Remitly Is Disrupting Cross-Border Payments. Is the Stock a Long-Term Winner?

If you've ever wired money overseas, you know it's not nearly as easy as using fintech platforms like Zelle or PayPal's (NASDAQ: PYPL) Venmo within the U.S. Indeed, moving money beyond the United States' border can be surprisingly complicated and time-consuming; these transactions are highly regulated.

Nevertheless, the need is there, with some estimates putting the outbound (from the U.S.) amount alone at around $200 billion per year.

Enter Remitly Global (NASDAQ: RELY).

Image source: Getty Images.

Launched in 2012, the company got off to a seemingly slow start as an international remittance middleman between the United States and other parts of the world. Chalk it up to the newness of the premise, mostly. At that point, bank wires and platforms like Western Union (NYSE: WU) were the established option, despite steep fees and slow turnaround times. This market wasn't quite ready for a mobile app then, and, to be fair, Remitly's earliest app iteration wasn't nearly as capable as it is today. Now, its platform can send money to and from over 175 countries.

And it's increasingly doing just that at an accelerating growth pace.

Well-earned growth

Remitly's recent results speak volumes about the fintech company's growing reach. Last quarter, 9.6 million customers used the Remitly app to send $22.1 billion across borders, generating nearly $453 million in revenue for the company. Those numbers are up 20%, 37%, and 25% (respectively) year over year, extending last year's top-line growth of 29%. The company's now firmly profitable too, improving its quarterly net income by 332%, from $11.4 million in Q1 of last year to $49.1 million for the three months ending in March.

What's driving this progress? Simplicity, mostly. Sending money across any border still requires extensive disclosure and permissions. Remitly just builds much of this logistical work into the app itself, without the need for a brick-and-mortar station to assist customers with the process.

The company also enjoys scale and can afford to cost-effectively handle the currencies that its customers may need to convert money to or from, and passes along these savings to its users.

More than anything, the app just works, earning 4.9 stars in Apple's App Store and 4.8 stars on Android. Remitly's platform reliably -- and easily -- does what consumers have struggled to efficiently get done before.

There's plenty more upside ahead, too. Mordor Intelligence suggests the worldwide remittance industry is poised to grow at an average annualized rate of 12.4% through 2031. It's an evolving business; however, that's also ripe for disruption by a new information technology name like Remitly.

Analysts see something most investors don't yet

So, yes, Remitly stock could be a long-term winner. Just note that the stock's been stagnant since early 2022, shortly after peaking in 2021 following its IPO. Most investors remain on the fence. They'll need to get on board if the stock's going to climb.

Analysts aren't undecided, though. All of them covering this stock rate it a strong buy, with a consensus price target of $28.25 -- which is 50% above this ticker's present price. That's not a bad way to start out a new trade.

James Brumley has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and PayPal. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: short June 2026 $50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.