The best part about our work at CSTMR is having a front-row seat to innovation.

We are fortunate to work with fintechs across industry sectors that are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in financial services as they break down barriers and encourage financial inclusivity. 

Our goal here at CSTMR is to collaborate with companies that not only care about financial services, but that care about people. 

One such company is UniTeller.

An international money transfer processing company, UniTeller helps immigrant communities all over the world connect with and financially support their families by providing essential financial services. Trust me when I say they are making a difference… you can feel the passion behind their brand in every engagement. 

Today’s article will take a closer look at their work, including how we collaborated together to spotlight the UniTeller brand. 

UniTeller’s Mission: Easily Send Money Around the World 

Today, our world is more connected than ever before. 

Digital transformation has changed the way consumers and businesses interact, especially in financial services. A byproduct of this evolution has been a celebration of diversity and a shift toward financial inclusivity. 

And yet, the hard truth remains that many people, especially in developing countries, don’t always have access to the financial services you and I have.

Say you’re working in California and need to send someone cash back in New York. No problem, right? You’ve got multiple options to do so. 

Now let’s say you’re an immigrant from the Philippines living in the United States, and you need to send money back home, quickly and safely. Your family there doesn’t have access to the banking services you have. Things get a little more complicated—at least, they used to. 

That’s exactly the challenge UniTeller has solved. 

UniTeller provides quality financial services that act as a bridge between immigrants and their loved ones in their home countries, by providing fast, convenient, and affordable global remittances.  

That means accessible and reliable financial services for all, no matter what.

Driven by compassion and a unique desire to make safe financial services available for all communities, especially underserved populations, UniTeller now offers international payment services for individuals and businesses in over 80 countries worldwide.

Meet UniTeller’s CEO: Alberto Guerra

Alberto Guerra has always been captivated by remittances. 

When presented with the opportunity to lead UniTeller in 2007, he jumped at the chance. His passion for the remittance industry, his formal education in economics, and his extensive background in international banking have been transformative for the company.

As an immigrant from Mexico, Alberto has always kept in mind his firsthand experience of the difficulties of sending money back home. 

Under Alberto’s leadership, UniTeller has gone from what was once a small, traditional cash-to-cash remittance company, to a major service provider of international payment processing. As Alberto continues to expand his vision for UniTeller’s future, the company will continue to look for ways to better facilitate remittances for immigrants across the globe. 

How UniTeller Is Changing the Global Remittances Industry

If COVID-19 showed us anything, it’s that the global remittances industry is a lifeline. About 75% of global remittances are used to buy food for families—what some migrants send home can comprise a significant portion of a family’s household income. 

Cross-border payments totaled nearly $550 billion in 2020 alone. But as significant as  global remittances have proven, barriers to entry remain present.

As part of its efforts to provide money transfer processing to as many regions and markets as possible, UniTeller is dedicated to overcoming the challenges facing cross border payments, including: 

• High Costs: cross-border payments can be punitively expensive by the time regulatory costs, foreign exchange fees, and other taxes are added.
• Slow Speeds: sending money abroad? Before UniTeller, it could take a while. Historically, slow transaction speeds have made sending money a frustrating process. 
• Security Issues: international payments are a massive target for criminals. 

Since they began in 1994 with a money remittance service to Latin America, UniTeller has expanded globally as both a business-to-business (B2B) fintech and business-to-consumer (B2C) fintech service provider. 

B2B Fintech Services

Global remittances play a significant role in economic growth, but gaining the necessary licensing and meeting compliance standards can be difficult for an individual business, financial institution, or retailer. 

That’s why UniTeller has partnered with major corporations like WesternUnion and MoneyGram, as well as thousands of financial institutions globally.

With Uniteller’s Digital Solutions & Services, businesses can easily provide cross-border money transfer and payment services. 

Flexible models go beyond corporate partnerships and include revenue sharing as a paying or selling agent, and the opportunity to utilize UniTeller’s technology for a remittance solution that can enhance any business’ portfolio, as well as impact their customers’ finances. 

B2C Fintech Services

As part of its modernization, UniTeller has adopted an agile digital framework that’s easy to use and allows users to send money worldwide in just a few, clear steps.

UniTeller focuses on lowering costs and keeping each transaction transparent, with no hidden fees. Users can send money back home by using a credit card, debit card, or bank account—this gives them the freedom and flexibility to choose what works best for them and their loved ones.

When it comes to providing fast, reliable transactions, UniTeller maintains the highest standards of excellence. The time to process a transfer depends on the transfer method, but using a credit or debit card means funds are available within 30 minutes to an hour.  

UniTeller is living out its mission to offer immigrant communities accessible and inclusive financial services. When they say immigrants are the engine of the communities they serve, they mean it, and that conviction is reflected in the company’s work. 

How CSTMR Helped Highlight the UniTeller Brand

When you have an exceptional product that can benefit millions of people, it’s all about spreading the word.  

Metaphorically, CSTMR needed to build a powerful megaphone to amplify UniTeller’s messaging, especially when they launched uLink, their money transfer app.

With an omni-channel approach consisting of organic content, paid media, and a targeted email strategy, together we set out to grow annual transactions by 200% and reduce cost per transaction. 

The results were remarkable:

Infrequent users became repeat customers, and UniTeller experienced a 241% increase in monthly registrations year-over-year. In 2021, their organic web traffic increased by 220%, and their cost per registration decreased by 28% year over year. 

“Prior to partnering with CSTMR, our messaging and campaign optimization strategies were missing the mark.”

Neha Arora
VP Marketing, UniTeller

Let CSTMR Tell Your Story 

Photo by Etienne Girardet

CSTMR is here for compelling stories, just like the one UniTeller has to tell.

By offering a truly fast, secure, and affordable way to send money back home, UniTeller is making  a meaningful impact—one that empowers people to live a more financially fulfilling, confident, and successful life.

And at CSTMR, we’ve made a point of getting that true story out there, for all to see.

If you, like UniTeller, are focused on breaking boundaries in financial services, we’d love to hear your story. Schedule a call today and let’s talk about how we can partner to get your message out—your company could be the next one we feature on our fintech companies to watch series.