Users are increasingly favoring mobile phone money remitters over traditional money remittance services when sending money to Fiji. This significant trend was highlighted in data released by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in its 2023 annual report, which was presented in Parliament on September 2, 2024, by Attorney-General Graham Leung.
The FIU, responsible for monitoring financial transactions across 172 institutions in 12 economic sectors, including banks, mobile phone companies, and insurance firms, reported that it has recorded over 30 million transactions in its database as of 2023. Among these, money sent to and from Fiji is categorized as Electronic Fund Transfer Reports (EFTRs).
From 2019 to 2023, the volume of total EFTRs surged from approximately 1.5 million to 3.5 million. However, there was a notable shift in the methods of fund transfer; transactions using traditional money remittance services dropped markedly from 71 percent in 2019 to just 26 percent in 2023. In contrast, remittances through mobile phone platforms rose dramatically, climbing from a mere 4 percent of total EFTRs in 2019 to over 60 percent in 2023.
The FIU attributed this growth in mobile phone money remittance to the high consumer demand for mobile money wallets, which are viewed as more convenient and cost-effective alternatives to traditional remittance methods.
In terms of total EFTRs, inward remittances constituted 92 percent, with the majority coming from Australia (47 percent), followed by the United States (19 percent), New Zealand (18 percent), the United Kingdom (8 percent), and Canada (2 percent). Outward remittances were primarily sent to Australia (22 percent), New Zealand (17 percent), the United States (7 percent), India (7 percent), and China (4 percent), according to the FIU.