The remittance market: money sent home from Germany and Europe
Remittances are the money migrants send to family in their country of origin, mostly small amounts sent often. Germany has long been one of the large sending countries: a Bundesbank overview of the German remittance market counted 9.5 billion euros sent in 2006 and named Turkey, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro and Greece as the traditional destinations. For banks and payment institutions the market is a test of the cross-border rails, because a fee that is small on a large payment is large on a 200-euro transfer.
Size and corridors
FXC Intelligence puts consumer-to-consumer payments at about 2 trillion dollars of a non-wholesale cross-border payments market of about 40 trillion dollars in 2024, as its 2025 remittance roundup sets out. From the euro area, India is among the top ten recipients of remittances, according to the European Central Bank's decision to link its instant payment service with India's UPI.
What sending money home costs
Sending 200 dollars cost 6.5 percent on global average in 2025, up from 6.4 percent a year earlier, according to the FSB and World Bank figures FXC cites. The G20 target is 3 percent by 2030, with no corridor above 5 percent, which the page on the G20 roadmap follows. Europe and Central Asia is the cheapest sending region in the same data. The price has two parts, the fee and the exchange rate margin, and the margin is the one a sender rarely sees.
From cash counters to apps and stablecoins
The listed money transfer companies report falling cash transactions and growing digital business, and several have launched or announced stablecoin features for transfers and for their own treasury, according to FXC. The ECB's links between TIPS and fast payment systems abroad target the same flows from the infrastructure side, as cross-border instant payments describes. Stablecoin rails are covered on stablecoin payments.
Who may offer remittance services in Germany
Money remittance is a payment service under section 1 of the German Payment Services Supervision Act (ZAG), so a provider needs a BaFin license as a payment institution, or a bank license, or acts as an agent of a licensed provider. Providers screen senders and recipients under anti-money laundering law, which is why a cash transfer at a counter asks for an ID. The page on payments regulation in Germany covers the licenses, and financial inclusion in payments the access side.
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What are remittances?
Transfers that migrants send to people in their country of origin, usually family. They are mostly small, recurring person-to-person payments, which makes fixed fees and exchange rate margins weigh heavily.
How much does it cost to send money abroad?
For a 200-dollar remittance the global average was 6.5 percent in 2025. Costs differ widely by corridor and channel; digital services are on average cheaper than cash-based ones, and the exchange rate margin is part of the price.
Which countries receive remittances from Germany?
The Bundesbank named Turkey, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro and Greece as the traditional destinations in its 2007 overview. The ECB counts India among the top ten recipients of remittances from the euro area today.
Remittances and Finance Loop
Finance Loop is the meeting place in Germany for payment institutions, banks and fintechs that move small amounts across borders. With Venturebloxx, Finance Loop presented a report on stablecoins in global payments that looks at corridor opportunities and the compliance and wallet set-up they need.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.