Which is the Most Popular Money Transfer App in Ireland?

By Erin Yurday, who is the CEO of NimbleFins, a personal finance website that conducts in-depth research & analysis on a variety of topics from insurance to credit cards to everyday spending.

Europeans remit billions of euros each year to other countries. As more consumers shift these transfers away from expensive international money transfers via traditional banks to lower-cost alternatives, how do financial technology (fintech) startups like Revolut compare to incumbents like PayPal and Western Union?

To get an idea of which companies are winning over consumers, a recent study by research group NimbleFins identified the most popular money transfer apps in Ireland and the rest of Europe using download data from the Apple App Store.

Top Money Transfer Apps in Ireland

In Ireland, the most popular money transfer app is Revolut. Not only was Revolut the most downloaded money transfer app in Ireland in March 2019, but this relative newcomer was actually the number 1 most downloaded app in the country’s entire “Finance” category according to download data from the App Store.

PayPal Mobile Cash was the second most downloaded money transfer app in Ireland. While not as popular as Revolut, PayPal Mobile Cash is still used by many needing money transfers in Ireland and was the third most downloaded app overall in the Apple App Store’s entire Finance category. The top 5 most popular money transfer apps in Ireland are rounded out by TransferWise (11th in the Finance category), Western Union (17th) and Skrill (44th).

The Apple App Store’s Finance category includes a broad selection of money-related apps. In addition to money transfer apps, the category also includes apps from traditional banks such as AIB. For reference, AIB Mobile was the second most downloaded Finance app in Ireland overall, behind Revolut and ahead of PayPal Mobile Cash.

Most Popular Money Transfer Apps in Europe

Across the majority of European countries PayPal Mobile Cash is still the dominant money transfer app, ranking in the top 3 in all 31 countries studied across Europe in March 2019. In fact, PayPal Mobile Cash was the most downloaded money transfer app in 22 of the countries, and the second most downloaded money transfer app in another 8 countries.

Despite forming less than four years ago, Revolut has gained a significant share of the money transfer market across Europe. For example, Revolut has taken the top spot in 7 European countries (Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania) and ranked second in another 16 countries. In fact, Revolut ranked in the top 4 money transfer apps in 28 out of the 31 European countries studied.

The third most popular money transfer app across Europe is TransferWise. It ranked in the top 5 in 28 countries, most commonly taking the third spot behind PayPal Mobile Cash and Revolut.

In addition to maintaining a solid hold in most European countries, PayPal Mobile Cash showed particular strength in countries with the highest levels of outgoing remittance. For example, PayPal Mobile Cash was the most downloaded app in the five European countries that send the most money abroad: United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain.

Money transfer is a big business, with transfers worth hundreds of millions or even billions of euros moving through most European countries each year. Given that remittances cost an average of 6.94% globally, according to the World Bank, it’s not surprising that no-fee or low-fee fintech companies are growing in popularity with budget-conscious consumers.

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