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BLACKBURN TOPS ‘MONEY TRANSFER LEAGUE’
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on June 14, 2016
5 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Gbaf News
Posted on June 14, 2016
5 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Blackburn is the money transfer capital of the UK, according to data from global money transfer experts Xpress Money. The company analysed transactions from thousands of UK customers over one month in 2016. Over double the amount of money was transferred from Blackburn as from Birmingham (number 2) in the same period. From an inbound perspective Southall tops the list of receiving destinations.
From sending money to extended family through to scheduled bill payments and pension transfers, the UK is now a huge market in a global industry worth an estimated £400 billion annually.
UK Money Transfer League Table
| Total number of transfers |
Volume of transfers |
Volume of inbound transfers |
|||
| Rank | Region/City | Rank | Region/City | Rank | Region/City |
| 1 | Blackburn | 1 | Blackburn | 1 | Southall |
| 2 | Birmingham | 2 | Birmingham | 2 | Wembley |
| 3 | Southall | 3 | Southall | 3 | Birmingham |
| 4 | Bradford | 4 | Bradford | 4 | Ilford |
| 5 | Slough | 5 | Leeds | 5 | Croydon |
| 6 | Leeds | 6 | Luton | 6 | Blackburn |
| 7 | Croydon | 7 | Slough | 7 | East Ham |
| 8 | Ilford | 8 | Ilford | 8 | Leicester |
| 9 | Luton | 9 | Leicester | 9 | Slough |
| 10 | Leicester | 10 | Croydon | 10 | Leeds |
| 11 | Peterborough | 11 | Derby | 11 | Bristol |
| 12 | East Ham | 12 | Peterborough | 12 | Cambridge |
Data from Xpress Money Services Limited [Feb-Mar 2016]*
The busiest transfer corridors were also identified with Pakistan being the most popular destination for outgoing transfers followed by Nigeria and India. The highest volume of inbound transfers comes from the United Arab Emirates which currently homes an estimated 250,000 Britons living and working in the country. The main localities where British nationals are based includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Sudhesh Giriyan, Chief Operating Officer at Xpress Money said, “The UK has a vibrant and varied population and is arguably, one of the most connected countries on the globe. For this reason, we are seeing a huge growth in this market and our UK customers are the first to adopt new mobile and transfer technologies.”
Data from Xpress Money shows that Mondays are by far the most popular day of the week for transferring funds abroad, dropping down to Sundays, when fewer than 3% of total transactions take place. September is the most popular month for money transfers from the UK, followed by July and June.
Last month, Xpress Money launched a new money transfer service which is currently exclusive to the UK. The XOPO app allows users to send money to a possible 160 destination countries by selecting contacts from popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Those abroad can use this service to send a request for money back to friends and family in the UK. The sender does not need to input the beneficiary’s bank details as these are stored away from social channels in a secure network.
Blackburn is the money transfer capital of the UK, according to data from global money transfer experts Xpress Money. The company analysed transactions from thousands of UK customers over one month in 2016. Over double the amount of money was transferred from Blackburn as from Birmingham (number 2) in the same period. From an inbound perspective Southall tops the list of receiving destinations.
From sending money to extended family through to scheduled bill payments and pension transfers, the UK is now a huge market in a global industry worth an estimated £400 billion annually.
UK Money Transfer League Table
| Total number of transfers | Volume of transfers | Volume of inbound transfers | |||
| Rank | Region/City | Rank | Region/City | Rank | Region/City |
| 1 | Blackburn | 1 | Blackburn | 1 | Southall |
| 2 | Birmingham | 2 | Birmingham | 2 | Wembley |
| 3 | Southall | 3 | Southall | 3 | Birmingham |
| 4 | Bradford | 4 | Bradford | 4 | Ilford |
| 5 | Slough | 5 | Leeds | 5 | Croydon |
| 6 | Leeds | 6 | Luton | 6 | Blackburn |
| 7 | Croydon | 7 | Slough | 7 | East Ham |
| 8 | Ilford | 8 | Ilford | 8 | Leicester |
| 9 | Luton | 9 | Leicester | 9 | Slough |
| 10 | Leicester | 10 | Croydon | 10 | Leeds |
| 11 | Peterborough | 11 | Derby | 11 | Bristol |
| 12 | East Ham | 12 | Peterborough | 12 | Cambridge |
Data from Xpress Money Services Limited [Feb-Mar 2016]*
The busiest transfer corridors were also identified with Pakistan being the most popular destination for outgoing transfers followed by Nigeria and India. The highest volume of inbound transfers comes from the United Arab Emirates which currently homes an estimated 250,000 Britons living and working in the country. The main localities where British nationals are based includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
Sudhesh Giriyan, Chief Operating Officer at Xpress Money said, “The UK has a vibrant and varied population and is arguably, one of the most connected countries on the globe. For this reason, we are seeing a huge growth in this market and our UK customers are the first to adopt new mobile and transfer technologies.”
Data from Xpress Money shows that Mondays are by far the most popular day of the week for transferring funds abroad, dropping down to Sundays, when fewer than 3% of total transactions take place. September is the most popular month for money transfers from the UK, followed by July and June.
Last month, Xpress Money launched a new money transfer service which is currently exclusive to the UK. The XOPO app allows users to send money to a possible 160 destination countries by selecting contacts from popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Those abroad can use this service to send a request for money back to friends and family in the UK. The sender does not need to input the beneficiary’s bank details as these are stored away from social channels in a secure network.
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