Remitly to close Passbook even as it records robust growth

Passbook, which is Remitly’s digital banking platform is set to end its services on 1st May 2023 about three years after its launch. As highlighted on the website, it will not be accepting new accounts. Even so, a strong earnings report and global expansion point to the firm’s robust growth.

Closure of Passbook

In 2020, Remitly launched a banking platform for US-based immigrants referred to as Passbook. Through its CEO, Matt Oppenheimer, the app was in line with the company’s goal of impacting this group by availing affordable and accessible banking services to them.

Nonetheless, Remitly’s focus appears to be shifting. With regard to the closure of Passbook, Oppenheimer has stated, “We believe it makes sense to redeploy our resources to higher returning investments, targeted at our core remittance customer. We are taking the best of learnings from Passbook and integrating them into products or features to deliver greater value through innovative solutions that are directly relevant to our customers’ remittance needs”.

Interestingly, the decision to close its digital banking platform comes amid its heightened efforts to grow its global money transfer network. During the recent announcement of the firm’s Q4’22 earnings, Oppenheimer noted that global expansion has been a major component of its observable growth.

Remitly expanded to New Zealand in Q4’22 and to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 2023. Oppenheimer acknowledged that “UAE is the second largest source market for remittance after the US, with significant received corridors that we already served well, including India, Pakistan, Philippines, and Bangladesh”.

Remitly Q4’22 earnings

In addition to the global expansions, the latest earnings report further points to robust growth. Its revenue grew by 41% YoY to $191 million. The growth is largely founded on the surge in transaction volumes and customers.

As the firm expanded to new territories, its active customers rose from 2.8 million to 4.2 million; representing an increase of 48% YoY. Besides, its send volume grew by 35% YoY to $8.1 billion.