A survey conducted by TransferWise, an online money transfer service, has shed light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the remittance habits of those living in Malaysia.

The survey found that a whopping 50% of Malaysians find the high cost associated with remittances to be a challenge, which led to almost half of the respondents (48%) reducing the amount sent and more than one-third (35%) completely giving up on sending a remittance altogether.

These findings are the result of a survey that was conducted with 1,000 Malaysians who are largely within the 25-44 age group.

The speed of transfers is a key consideration for many Malaysian consumers, with 61% of those surveyed saying it was an important factor when choosing an online remittance service.

With more than one-third (32%) of the respondents opted to set up their remittance order in person at a bank while 54% of the survey respondents found not being able to visit a physical branch during the past 12 months a challenge due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) measure being implemented.

The long time needed to set up their remittance order was also an issue for 51% of them.

37% of Malaysians said that cost and trust was an important factor when choosing a remittance provider with four in 10 noticing an increase in the cost of sending remittances over the past year and half of them citing high costs as a challenge.

This had resulted in lesser amounts of remittances being sent by 48% of the survey respondents.

TransferWise Malaysia Country Manager, Lim Paik Wan said,

 

“The findings of the survey tell us that due to the pandemic and current Movement Control Order measures, the need for cheaper, faster, and more convenient remittance services have never been more necessary for Malaysians. Many surveyed said that not having access to a physical bank counter and the high costs of remittances were a challenge during the past 12 months.”