How to Build a Money Transfer Website in 2023: Guide and Interesting Stats

Sending and receiving money online have become a natural part of our life because of how simple, convenient, and fast these processes are. We have almost forgotten (and new generations will probably never know) how frustrating it used to be to go to the bank, talk to tellers, and fill out forms to complete a transfer. All these are operations we now can complete sitting on the sofa wherever the Internet is available.

Sending and receiving money, donating, and making purchases on the Internet has never been easier thanks to money transfer systems. Insider Intelligence reports that 52.5% of the US population will be using a money transfer system at least once a month by the end of 2022.

However, business owners often talk about security issues and high user fees related to integrating these money transfer systems into their business processes. This is a key area where anyone who wants to develop a money transfer website can stand out and differentiate themselves from their competitors. This article covers the different types of money transfer websites, how these websites work, and how you can make your own. Let’s get straight to it.

How do money transfer websites work? 

An online money transfer is a way of transferring money electronically. What can you do with a money transfer system?

• Manage different types of transfers (including peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers such as paying different services, splitting bills, sending money to loved ones, and setting a credit limit for a child, as well as business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) transfers)

• Integrate and protect bank account information

• Manage transactions in different languages and currencies 

• Complete payments safely & securely

• Track fees

As mentioned above, these systems are easy to use (you can send money even from the comfort of your home) and flexible, with security you can trust since as all of the systems available must be compliant with financial regulations in the region(s) where they operate. 

Is money transfer website development profitable?

Digital technology has become a natural part of our lives. We use it to work from home, have Zoom calls with colleagues, find love online, buy things from e-commerce giants, and so much more. Sending and receiving money has also become easier than ever thanks to digital technology. 

According to Statista research on Digital Remittances worldwide, transaction value in the digital remittances segment is projected

to reach $127.2 million this year, an annual growth rate of 9.34%. In addition, according to the Payment System Report 2019, electronic payments accounted for 39% of all payments made in the USA for that year. And that was before COVID-19! Here are some other statistics related to money transfers.

• The top three countries in the world by the number of sent transfers are the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland (World Bank)

• By 2023, the number of users who perform online transfers is expected to exceed 13 million.

Everything is moving online, new online banking solutions and financial apps appear, and this is the main reason to consider developing a money transfer website in 2023, even though a bunch of ready-made solutions are already available.

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Types of money transfer software 

The core of all money transfer software functionality is to make these transactions fast, convenient, transparent, safe, and secure, but there are also a few different types of software used. Let’s take a closer look.

• P2P Payment Systems

A peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer system is exactly what it sounds like: A direct transaction between peers without the participation of third-party financial intermediaries. With P2P payments, you don’t have to enter a lot of details to complete a transaction; all you need is the recipient’s card number or phone number. Users love this type of money transfer software for its global coverage, 24/7 accessibility, and no-fees policy.

Examples: PayPal, Wise, and OFX.

• B2B Money Transfer Software 

These money transfer platforms are for payment transactions carried out between two businesses. Unlike the P2P payments above, B2B payments are much more standardized. While B2C payments are increasingly moving online (thanks to the rise of e-commerce), B2B customers have one unique characteristic: they still use physical paper checks.

Examples: Merchant Maverick, National Processing, Dharma Merchant Services, and Payment Depot.

• Electronic Bill Payment Services 

These software programs are designed to enable users to pay all their bills in one place. Functionality includes set-it-and-forget-it automation, same-day payments, and juggling bills.

Examples: Prism, Quicken Bill Pay, MyCheckFree, and Paytrust.

Leading money transfer websites 

Now we now know how these money transfer websites work and what types exist. Market research is absolutely essential before launching your own product. Below is a list of the most popular money transfer systems.

PayPal. We’re sure you heard of this one even before you got interested in fintech. This company revolutionized the payment industry and became an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. In 2021, PayPal was 134th on the Fortune 500 ranking of the largest United States corporations with $25.371 billion in revenue. 

Source: PayPal

Wise is a London-based financial technology company founded in 2010 with the vision of making international money transfers cheap, fair, and simple. Users can set up multi-currency accounts and transfer money in 49 different currencies. Quick, easy, competitive, and transparent business processes helped Wise become one of the most popular online money transfer solutions, enabling the company to carry out an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 2021.

Source: Wise

Western Union is the oldest financial company on this list, and it was founded in 1851. Users can now use its services to send money online, with an app, or in person from physical locations. 

Source: Western Union

WorldRemit. Founded in 2010, this cross-border digital payments service now operates in 130+ countries and provides international online money transfer and remittance services in over 70 currencies. It all started with a personal experience. The founder of WorldRemit needed to send money home to his family in East Africa but each transaction took an incredibly long time. For this reason, he decided to make a difference in an industry and help millions of people just like him. In 2018, the company’s valuation was $1.5 billion, and its annual revenue was £85.83 million.

Source: WorldRemit

OFX is an Australian online foreign exchange and payments company with its headquarters in Sydney. OFX’s users can create accounts, deliver funds to recipients (usually in 1-2 business days), and pay overseas staff and suppliers. They offer 24/7 customer support and mitigate currency fluctuations to protect clients against exchange rate shifts.

Source: OFX

In 2021, OFX announced a net profit after (NPAT) of $13.5 million. This is a calculation made internally by a company to show a more accurate reflection of how much revenue it generates. 

Remitly offers digital financial services for immigrants, enabling users to make person-to-person money transfers in over 135 countries around the globe. 

Source: Remitly

Essential features of a money transfer website 

The core functionality of a money transfer website includes must-have features such as the following.

1. Bill payments: This is what users usually come for. They want to make bill payments online at any time from any place.

2. E-wallets: Do you remember the PIN for your card? Now you don’t have to since e-wallets simplify transactions and allow you to pay with your smartphones (almost) everywhere around the world.

3. Templates: These allow users to simplify recurring transactions.

4. Sign up and login: These are basic features for any website. However, this is also the first point of contact between your product and users, so it must intuitive yet also secure. 

5. Online ID check: By verifying users’ identities, this feature is the first pillar of system security protecting users from various types of fraud. Data encryption and two-factor authentication are also must-have features.

6. Payment statistics: With data visualization, users can access important financial information such as when and where they spent their money, and how much they spent at individual times and locations.

7. Notifications: Used to inform users about transactions, account status, and updates.

8. Multilingual interface: If you’re ambitious enough to aim for the global fintech market, a multilingual interface is a must. Revolut, for example, is available in 24 languages, ranging from English and Spanish to Swedish and Latvian.

9. Invoice drafting: The value of money transfer websites lies in their ability to make payments online anytime and from everywhere. With invoice drafting functions built in as well, they become a true lifesaver for business owners, streamlining their operations by eliminating the majority of paperwork involved in printing and scanning invoices.

10. Currency exchange: In the era of globalization, users expect to have a currency exchange feature in their fintech products and services including money transfer platforms. Giving them the opportunity to buy and receive the currencies they need without visiting a physical location adds value.

11. International transfers: Think of why certain money transfer companies were created. The founders, just like millions of other people, struggled with sending and receiving money abroad. That’s why international transfers are on our list of essential features. 

12. Chatbots: This feature allows your money transfer software to collect information from users about their problems and provide answers to frequently asked questions freeing up your staff’s time for more urgent requests.

13. Online chats: When it comes to fintech products, it’s important for users to feel protected and get support quickly when needed. Research conducted by ATG showed that a “live chat” button makes 90% of customers in the USA more confident about getting help from a company. You can read more about how chatting and modern communication impact businesses here. Also, when they have a great experience with a product, people are more likely to recommend it to their friends and family members. 

How to create a money transfer website: A step-by-step guide

In this section, we’ll describe the steps needed to create a money transfer website from scratch.  Those are important steps that you shouldn't overlook and will save you a lot of resources in later stages.

1. Competitive market research: This includes regional market and target audience research and will help you understand what people in this region need, what their purchasing behaviors are like, what your competitors do, and what strategies helped them (or not) to succeed, as well as how the financial market is regulated.  

2. Prototype and user experience (UX): In this stage, keep in mind that your money transfer website must be designed not only to work on a desktop but also to provide a great user experience on other devices such as tablets and mobile phones. Consider testing interfaces as early as possible in the development process in order to get feedback from your future users. This will save money and time in the later stages and prevent you from creating unnecessary features and screens.

Building a smooth UX is incredibly important because users won’t tolerate a bad one. According to the consulting giant PwC, just one bad experience is enough for 32% of customers in the USA to walk away from a brand they already love, so you can imagine how strong the impact would be for a new product or service. Unfortunately, users don’t give you any room for error here.

3. Software development: This is the stage when the core functionality of your money transfer website is developed. Remember that a money transfer website must be secure, scalable, compliant with legal regulations, and work perfectly on different types of devices. 

Also, since your money transfer software will work as a cashier, admin, and auditor, it’s necessary to integrate customer management modules. We would recommend starting with the MVP development. A minimum viable product (MVP) will include only the core functionality of your money transfer software system and will allow you to validate your idea by the market itself.

Below is a list of technologies and practices that can help ensure your site achieves this functionality.

• Cloud development allows fintech companies to store, manage and access huge volumes of data securely, cost-effectively, and autonomously, from anywhere and at any time. It’s useful for storing not only financial data but also codes and integrations. 

• Artificial Intelligence can save you a tremendous amount of work by analyzing human behavioral patterns and making predictions about users’ future actions.

• Blockchain is used to make transactions secure, streamline business processes, and increase the transparency of regular transactions.

• SDKs and APIs for payment integration. These toolkits allow developers to integrate their payment solutions with other existing applications. Which one should you choose? It depends on your project requirements. Some prefer APIs for their superior flexibility, scalability, and reusability in comparison to SDKs. Others believe SDKs offer easier integration and enhanced security combined with relatively lower cost. SDKs may be easier to use for more basic functionality, while APIs may allow for future growth or enhanced functionality. As you can see, the choice depends on the result you are trying to achieve. Feel free to contact us to discuss which technology is a better fit for your needs. 

• Programming languages such as MXNet, Python, AWS, Neural Networks, React-Native, HTML, Redux, Angular.js, TypeScript, SASS/SCSS, Karma, Jasmine, Docker, and Git/GitLab are used in the development of money transfer websites. For secure online payment services, developers work with ​​ Apache Tomcat 7.0, Hibernate, Apache CXF, Hibernate, J2EE, JSF 2.0, MySQL, PostgreSQL, RichFaces 3.x, 4.x, Spring 3.x, and Amazon Web Services EC2 and S3.

4. Testing is important to ensure your money transfer system provides a great user experience. You can apply both manual and automated tests to cover as many possible bugs and bottlenecks as possible. 

In the next section, we’ll talk about the cost of developing a money transfer website. 

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Money transfer website development cost 

There are many factors that influence the final cost of developing a money transfer website. The following are some examples.

• A number of features

• Technologies

• Licensing (for example, European electronic money license applicants are required to have a minimum of €350,000 in capital)

• Staff costs. This variable is directly affected by the hourly rate of developers and designers and their location.

On average, it takes between 400 and 1,000 hours to design and develop software. Accordingly, we can conclude that the minimum cost for developing a money transfer website starts at around $30,000.

You can then consider the development of a money transfer app for mobile devices. Depending on the audience, you can build a native Android or iOS, or cross-platform app.

Monetization strategies for money transfer websites 

Knowing existing monetization strategies will help you choose the right approach for your money transfer website. The following are the most popular options.

1. Freemium model: With this monetization model, the main functionality is free and accessible to all users. Additional features like cryptocurrency transactions and chatbots are only available to subscribed users. 

2. Charging transaction fees: Some P2P companies charge fees on all transactions, and some, like OFX, charge fees only for transactions under a certain amount. Another type of fee is exchange rate fees for currency conversions. 

What should be considered before developing a money transfer website? 

First, think of use cases, meaning when and how people will use your website. Some examples include paying taxes, making purchases via e-commerce websites like Flipkart, and withdrawing money to a personal bank account. The best way to know is to do user research by conducting surveys and one-to-one interviews with potential users to get insights. 

When developing a money transfer website, make sure it is versatile, secure, multi-functional, and scalable. Meeting the financial regulations of the region where it operates is also essential. 

• In the United States, where financial technology has received enormous interest, popularity, and regulatory attention in recent years, there are about ten different federal agencies involved in regulatory compliance activities. It’s also important to remember that there are 50 states, each of which has its own rules. At the same time, Statista reports that in the Digital Payments segment, the number of users is expected to amount to 307.08 million by 2026.

• Canada is less regulated. The fintech industry is regulated by the 2019 Bank Act, which opens up various online payment opportunities.  

• If your target market is the UK, consider reading about the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which protects consumers, keeps the industry stable, and promotes healthy competition between providers.  

• Directive (EU) 2015/2366 regulates the European Union financial market. This regulation states that payment platforms that process EU citizens’ data must comply with GDPR principles such as transparency and legitimacy, data minimization, accuracy, and confidentiality, among others.

Conclusion

Developing a money transfer website is a great chance to create an innovative product that will overcome the limitations of existing solutions. It requires expertise in the financial market and legal compliance practices, as well as innovative skills and a focus on security and data protection. It may sound difficult, but creating this kind of website is definitely worth doing since the fintech market is showing growth which is expected to continue for some time.  

At Yellow, we have significant experience and expertise in working with fintech startups. We have worked on projects like a mobile banking app, a Forex trading platform, and an app for improving credit score. Our team will be glad to help you realize your idea. Drop us a line if you want to discuss your project in detail.