Targeting Migrants in Financial Services 2025
Summary
This report draws on GlobalData’s proprietary dashboards and surveys to analyze migrant trends within financial services. It explores the size and characteristics of different diasporas and examines the effectiveness of different targeting strategies. It also discusses migrants’ product and channel preferences, as well as identifying how preferences differ between migrants and natives. In addition, the report provides a handful of best-practice examples highlighting how best to target migrants.
13.5 million Indians currently reside abroad, making them the largest diaspora, closely followed by Mexican and Chinese expats. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) predominately reside in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the US. The US is a key destination across the top three migrant groups, particularly Mexican emigrants. Chinese and Indian expats constitute the largest diaspora in the HNW space, together accounting for 400,000 HNW individuals. Chinese HNW expats predominately live in Hong Kong (China SAR), while HNW Indian expats prefer the US and the UK.
Scope
- The top three migrant groups originate from India, Mexico, and China, together accounting for 36.5 million individuals.
- Totaling 263,000, Chinese individuals are the largest HNW diaspora globally, followed by NRIs with 135,900 HNW individuals.
- The wealthiest expats reside in Denmark and the US, with average liquid assets of more than $400,000.
- Learn about the size of key migrant groups and where they reside.
- Understand how to best reach out to migrants with tailored products and services.
- Understand which channels migrants prefer when communicating with financial services providers.
- Learn what migrants value in a financial services provider.
- Understand how investment and financial product preferences differ between migrants and natives.
- Executive summary
- Market Sizing
- Targeting migrants means understanding the needs of NRIs first and foremost
- The wealthiest expats are found in Denmark and the US
- Indonesia is home to a significant ethnic Chinese population thanks to historic ties
- The Middle East dominates as an NRI hub, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia
- Chinese and Indian expats collectively account for 400,000 HNW individuals
- The US is home to the largest HNW expat population
- Targeting
- Expatriation is more prominent among younger and more affluent demographics
- Providers should leverage life events to target expats
- Tax efficiencies are the most important expatriation driver among HNW individuals
- Tax havens are popular destinations among UHNW individuals and billionaires
- The entrepreneurial spirit is strong among HNW expats
- DBS targets international entrepreneurs
- Providers should leverage partnerships to target expats more successfully
- Product and Investment Preferences
- Above-average product penetration rates make migrants a lucrative target market
- Migration-driven remittances are big business, especially in the US
- India is by far the leading recipient of remittances
- Expats require solutions that accommodate cross-border transactions and investments
- Expats look for a wide array of investment products
- HNW expats in the UAE and Switzerland invest locally for tax reasons
- Young expats are heavily exposed to cryptocurrencies
- Channel Usage and Provider Preferences
- NRIs prefer to invest via their main bank’s channels
- Migrants expect banks to resolve issues quickly and efficiently
- Migrants are heavy users of all channels
- Migrants are more than twice as likely to be a victim of financial fraud
- With competition from new players on the rise, banks need to up their game
- Migrants are less likely to rely on branches for their banking needs
- Competitor Profiles
- Alpen Partners helps its wealth clients obtain second citizenships
- Rise focuses on migrants by offering a range of relevant banking solutions
- DBS specializes in the lucrative but highly competitive NRI segment
- One in two new migrants in Australia bank with CommBank
- Revolut aims to shake up the Mexican remittances market
- Key Takeaways
- Appendix
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