International remittances are a notable aspect of our ever-more globalized economy. One publicly traded company focuses intently on this activity, and is doing quite well as a specialist. This is Remitly Global (RELY +1.71%), and one element of the company's business in particular shows that it has vast potential in front of it.
Money matters
Remitly hews to the classic international financial services model. It derives revenue chiefly from transaction fees, and the spreads between the foreign exchange rates it charges clients and those it pays for currency conversions.
Image source: Getty Images.
Like any middleman business that makes a living by earning a cut of every payment through its system, the more coin flowing through Remitly's system, the better the company tends to do. This is why it's so encouraging that the robust growth in the company's "send" (i.e., total transaction) volume has stayed remarkably steady.
It's also very high. In Remitly's most recently reported (second) quarter, it was up 40% year over year to $18.5 billion. In the previous frame, that percentage was awfully close at 41%, ditto in the fourth quarter of 2024, at 39%.
And where total transactions go, revenue tends to follow. From the last quarter of 2024 to the second quarter of this year, Remitly's top line zoomed from just under $352 million to nearly $412 million two quarters later.
NASDAQ: RELY
Key Data Points
Bullish projections
Remitly doesn't provide send volume guidance, but throughout this year, the company has lifted its revenue forecast for the entirety of 2025 -- so clearly it feels transaction volume will continue powering higher. This is a business that obviously knows its market and how to approach it, and I feel those double-digit improvements will only continue.
