Users are increasingly opting for mobile phone money transfer services instead of traditional remittance providers when sending money to Fiji. This significant trend was highlighted in the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)’s 2023 annual report, presented in Parliament on September 2, 2024, by Attorney-General Graham Leung.
As Fiji’s anti-money laundering agency, the FIU monitors and records all financial transactions across 172 institutions in various sectors, including banks, mobile companies, accounting firms, legal professionals, money lenders, real estate agents, and insurance companies. The database reportedly holds over 30 million transactions as of 2023.
Among these transactions, those involving money sent to and from Fiji are categorized as Electronic Fund Transfer Reports (EFTRs). From 2019 to 2023, the total volume of EFTRs grew from approximately 1.5 million to 3.5 million. However, there was a remarkable shift in the methods of transferring funds, with transactions through traditional remittance providers falling from 71 percent in 2019 to just 26 percent in 2023.
In contrast, remittances using mobile phone services surged dramatically, increasing from 4 percent of total EFTRs in 2019 to over 60 percent in 2023. The FIU attributed this growth to rising consumer preference for mobile money wallets, which are seen as a more convenient and cost-effective alternative to traditional remittance methods.
In terms of total EFTRs, inward remittances made up 92 percent, with 47 percent coming from Australia, 19 percent from the United States, 18 percent from New Zealand, 8 percent from the United Kingdom, and 2 percent from Canada. Outward remittances primarily went to Australia (22 percent), New Zealand (17 percent), the United States (7 percent), India (7 percent), and China (4 percent), as reported by the FIU.