Remitly (RELY) Q3 2025: Business Send Volume Doubles, Expanding Platform Beyond Consumer Remittance
Remitly’s Q3 results highlight a decisive pivot to business payments, with business send volume nearly doubling sequentially and new product traction building across Flex and Remitly One. Margin discipline and technology leverage are sustaining profitability, even as the company invests in platform expansion. The outlook signals measured growth, with digital-first advantages set to accelerate as regulatory changes take effect in 2026.
Summary
- Business Payments Acceleration: Remitly’s business segment nearly doubled send volume, validating expansion beyond consumer remittance.
- Product-Led Margin Expansion: Flex and Remitly One are deepening customer engagement while showing capital-efficient economics.
- Digital Shift Tailwinds: Upcoming remittance tax on cash transfers will amplify Remitly’s digital-first advantage in 2026.
Performance Analysis
Remitly delivered 25% revenue growth and maintained 15% adjusted EBITDA margins, marking another quarter of profitable expansion. Send volume rose 35% to $19.5 billion, with send volume per active customer up 11% year-over-year, reflecting higher transaction frequency and increased average transaction sizes. The active customer base grew 21% to nearly 8.9 million, with retention levels remaining strong.
Geographically, US revenue advanced 28%, continuing to outpace the rest of world, which moderated to 20% due to tough prior-year comps. Notably, the Mexico receive corridor grew faster than the overall company, driven by localized innovation such as QR-based cash pickup. Take rate held steady at 2.15%, with mix shift toward high-amount senders and business customers influencing the metric.
- Business Send Volume Surge: Business transaction volume nearly doubled sequentially, with 10,000 businesses now active on the platform.
- Flex Revenue Momentum: Flex, the send now pay later product, saw revenue nearly double sequentially with over 100,000 active users and strong repayment rates.
- Cost Efficiency Gains: Transaction and technology expenses as a percentage of revenue improved, aided by AI-driven risk and support automation.
Remitly continues to demonstrate strong RLTE (revenue less transaction expense) growth, up 23% YoY, underscoring scalable unit economics even as customer and product mix evolve.
Executive Commentary
"Remitly is a structurally advantaged financial platform built for durable growth. Revenue growth of 25% and adjusted EBITDA margins of 15% reflect our disciplined execution and focus on sustainable, profitable growth, even as we continue to invest and expand."
Matt Oppenheimer, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
"Send volume grew 35% to $19.5 billion. Supporting this strong volume growth, send volume per active customers increased 11% year over year. This was driven by growth in both transactions per active and average transaction size as we continue to win share and gain traction with higher amount senders and business customers."
Vikas Mehta, Chief Financial Officer
Strategic Positioning
1. Business Payments Platform Expansion
Remitly Business, small business cross-border payments, is scaling rapidly, with active business users growing to nearly 10,000 and average transaction sizes twice that of the core consumer segment. Expansion into the UK and Canada demonstrates global ambitions, and improved KYB (Know Your Business, business verification) processes are reducing onboarding friction and boosting approval rates. This segment is expected to be a durable growth and margin driver as digital B2B payments adoption accelerates.
2. High-Amount Sender Focus
High-amount senders, customers transferring over $1,000, are now a strategic priority. Remitly increased send limits to $100,000 per transfer for select US users and launched targeted pricing and marketing initiatives. This cohort drove over 40% YoY send volume growth and increased its mix by 200 basis points, demonstrating strong product-market fit and incremental revenue opportunity.
3. Remitly One and Flex Product Traction
Remitly One, an integrated financial platform, is gaining early traction, with Flex (send now, pay later) surpassing 100,000 active users and nearly doubling revenue sequentially. The product is capital efficient, with 90% of receivables current and negligible charge-offs. Digital wallet and debit card features are broadening engagement and diversifying revenue streams, while stablecoin infrastructure is being deployed for treasury and disbursement efficiency.
4. Technology and AI Leverage
AI and automation investments are driving cost leverage, with customer support and technology expenses as a percentage of revenue both improving. Platform reliability remains industry-leading, with 99.99% uptime and over 94% of transactions completed in under an hour. AI-driven risk models are proactively mitigating fraud while supporting seamless customer experience.
5. Regulatory Tailwinds in 2026
A new 1% tax on cash remittance instruments, effective January 2026, will exempt digitally funded transactions, creating a significant structural tailwind for Remitly’s digital-first model. The company is positioning marketing and product efforts to capture accelerated share gains as the regulatory environment shifts in its favor.
Key Considerations
Remitly’s Q3 showcased a multidimensional growth strategy, balancing disciplined investment, product innovation, and operational efficiency. The company is methodically expanding beyond consumer remittance into business payments and embedded financial services, while leveraging technology to sustain profitable growth.
Key Considerations:
- Business Customer Scale: Business send volume nearly doubled, with higher average transaction values and improved onboarding efficiency.
- Flex Product Economics: Flex is scaling with strong repayment and minimal credit losses, providing both engagement and capital efficiency upside.
- AI-Driven Cost Leverage: Ongoing investment in AI is reducing support and operational costs, improving customer satisfaction and fraud mitigation.
- Digital-First Regulatory Advantage: The upcoming remittance tax on cash instruments will accelerate the shift to digital, directly benefiting Remitly’s model.
- Marketing ROI Discipline: LTV to CAC remains robust at 6x, with payback under 12 months, supporting continued investment in new segments and products.
Risks
Remitly faces potential headwinds from restrictive immigration policies in key send markets such as the US and Canada, which could slow new customer acquisition. The company is also navigating margin pressure from customer mix shifts and pricing investments, especially as high-amount and business segments grow. Macro uncertainty and competitive intensity in digital remittance remain material risks, while Flex product scaling requires ongoing credit discipline and risk management.
Forward Outlook
For Q4 2025, Remitly guided to:
- Revenue of $426 million to $428 million, reflecting 21% to 22% growth.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $50 million to $52 million (12% margin).
For full-year 2025, management maintained guidance:
- Revenue of $1.619 to $1.621 billion (28% growth).
- Adjusted EBITDA of $234 to $236 million (15% margin).
Management highlighted:
- High-amount and business senders will continue to drive send volume and revenue per customer growth.
- Marketing investments will remain disciplined but support new product and segment adoption, with ROI and payback periods stable.
Takeaways
Remitly’s Q3 marks a strategic inflection, with business payments and new financial products driving platform expansion and margin resilience. The digital-first foundation positions the company to benefit from both product-led growth and regulatory tailwinds in 2026.
- Business and Product Diversification: Expansion into business payments and Flex is broadening Remitly’s addressable market and deepening customer engagement.
- Margin and Scale Discipline: Technology leverage and disciplined investment are sustaining profitability even as the company invests in new growth vectors.
- Digital Shift Opportunity: Regulatory changes and continued cash-to-digital migration create a favorable setup for accelerated share gains in 2026 and beyond.
Conclusion
Remitly’s Q3 2025 results underscore a successful evolution from consumer remittance to a multiproduct, multi-segment payments platform. With business and high-amount senders gaining momentum, and Flex demonstrating capital-efficient growth, Remitly is positioned to capture durable share in a structurally expanding market. The digital-first model, reinforced by upcoming regulatory changes, sets the stage for continued profitable growth.
Industry Read-Through
Remitly’s accelerated business payments growth and digital-first execution signal a broader industry pivot as fintechs target underserved SME cross-border payments and embedded financial services. The rapid adoption of digital wallets, send now pay later, and stablecoin infrastructure highlights the convergence of payments, lending, and treasury operations. Regulatory shifts such as cash remittance taxes will likely accelerate digital adoption across the sector, favoring agile, technology-led platforms. Incumbent remittance providers and banks face increasing pressure to digitize, while fintechs with proven cost discipline and product innovation stand to gain disproportionate share as market dynamics evolve.