Wells Fargo Adds Remittance Function to Mobile Banking App

Wells Fargo says it has brought its international money transfer service to its banking app.

ExpressSend Mobile makes Wells Fargo the only major American bank to offer a dedicated mobile remittance service, the lender said in a Wednesday (Sept. 16) news release.

“Many of our customers regularly support family and loved ones abroad,” Daniela Mounger, ExpressSend product manager, said in the release.

“ExpressSend Mobile now makes it easier to stay connected and send money securely and conveniently when it matters most — right from the Wells Fargo Mobile app.”

According to the release, the new remittance offerings lets customers send funds from the U.S. to family and friends in 12 countries — Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, India, the Philippines and Vietnam — while managing their banking and international transfers in one place.

The service lets users send money to a bank account or cash pickup location in these countries, follow transfers in real time and receive alerts and add or edit recipients directly in the mobile app.

“We are listening to our customers, and ExpressSend Mobile reflects our ongoing work to provide innovative, convenient, and secure digital banking solutions that fit our customers’ everyday financial lives,” said John Durrant, Wells Fargo’s head of consumer banking.

The new offering comes amid the ongoing evolution of the banking app, as chronicled in the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Winning Top of Wallet: How Credit Card Apps Shape Choice.”

“The bank app is no longer just a utility for checking balances or paying bills,” PYMNTS wrote in May. “Increasingly, it is becoming the control center for customer engagement, rewards visibility, spending management and card loyalty.”

Research from the report found that 69% of U.S. adult cardholders say the quality of a credit card’s mobile app helps determine which card becomes their most used. Seventy percent of cardholders use their primary card’s app, while 32% of app users say they upped their spending after adopting it.

The research also found that large issuers are increasingly viewing mobile apps as engagement platforms designed to keep customers interacting with cards throughout the day, not only when monthly statements show up.

“Many large issuers are also weaving broader financial ecosystems into the app experience itself,” the report added. “Some now integrate budgeting tools, installment options, travel booking, merchant offers and virtual cards into a single interface designed to keep users inside the platform longer.”

The report cites the example of Wells Fargo’s Fargo assistant and LifeSync tools, which “reflect another part of the industry push toward predictive banking and goal-based engagement.”