Wall Street Exchange, a leading money exchange service provider in the UAE and a member of Emirates Post Group, has reported a 10 per cent growth in its remittance business for 2015.

The chief marketing and support services officer of Wall Street Exchange, Sultan Al Mahmoud said: “We recorded a substantial 10 per cent growth in the total value of remittance in 2015 compared to 2014. This indeed reflects the trust and confidence the customers continue to place on Wall Street Exchange.”

The top five expatriate nationalities in the UAE remitting money using Wall Street Exchange were Indians, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans.

“One of the primary reasons for growth in remittance is the increase in the number of expatriates sending money to their respective home countries. The weakening of various currencies against the US dollar encouraged more expatriates to remit money. Few currencies reached their lowest level, benefiting the expats by getting higher exchange rate,” Al Mahmoud said.

“The ease of reaching our exchange centres and innovative kiosks, our highly efficient service, and our best currency exchange rates were among the main drivers for more people to come to Wall Street Exchange. They also found it convenient to use our multiple range of services such as credit card and utility bill payments when remitting money to their countries,” he added.

India took the first place on the list of Top 10 remittance receiving countries, with an estimated remittance of $72.2 billion in 2015, followed by China ($63.90 billion), and the Philippines ($29.7 billion), according to the World Bank Group’s Migration and Remittances Fact book 2016. Pakistan was placed eight on the list with remittances of $20.1 billion, while Bangladesh took the 10th slot with $15.8 billion of money received.

The World Bank report placed the UAE in the top 10 migrant destinations which included the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Spain and Australia.

Al Mahmoud expects Wall Street Exchange’s remittance business to record higher growth in 2016, referring to the statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation that states over 252,000 new work permits have been issued in the first two months of 2016.

“We positively see the trend being sustained as people continue to remit money. Despite the lower oil prices, the economy in the UAE is growing and with Expo 2020 within reach, more job opportunities will be available,” he concluded. –TradeArabia News Service