International fund transfers made to Romania using Revolut increased by 5% YoY in the first half (H1) of 2023, according to a recent report released by the company. The same source said that more than 5.6 million transactions were made from 73 countries to Romania, while Revolut customers in Romania have made over 6 million international money transfers to users in 157 countries.

Funds sent to Romania by users from the first ten countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, USA, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland) increased by 12% YoY, exceeding the value of EUR 740 million.

A Revolut customer using the financial app for international money transfers sent an average of EUR 1,757 to Romania in the first half of 2023 (+3% compared to H1 2022).

Revolut is used both by Romanians who work or live abroad and send money back home to their families and by foreigners in Romania who use the app to transfer money to their countries of origin, as well as by families of Romanian students attending faculties abroad.

According to data from Revolut, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly visible is that of remittances of funds made by foreign workers employed in Romania. According to official data from the Ministry of Labor, there are almost 120,000 foreign workers in Romania, most coming from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and India. Last year, 100,000 employees from abroad came to work in Romania.

For example, in the first six months of 2023 vs H1 2022, the total amount sent to Nepal increased 10 times, and that to Sri Lanka 5 times, Revolut said. Remittances to India also increased by 64% compared to the same period in 2022, as did those to the Republic of Moldova (+30% compared to the first half of last year).

The number of transactions to these countries also increased - 13x more transactions were made to Nepal and 8x more to Sri Lanka.

“However, the largest volumes transferred from Romania are directed to 3 countries where there is a large diaspora or where many young Romanians study with financial support from families back home (United Kingdom, Germany, USA). […] The average amount sent from Romania to these countries, per user, in the first six months of the year was EUR 1,290,” Revolut said.

Revolut launched on the local market in 2018 and currently has more than 3 million clients in the local market.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Revolut)