Transferwise launches campaign recognising immigrants

Money transfer company, Transferwise has launched a campaign promoting the benefits immigrants bring to Australian society to coincide with the UN’s International Migrants Day last Monday.

The announcement:

Aussies recognise immigration benefits and want to live abroad – but still don’t think migration to Australia should be easier

TransferWise and Australia’s tech community calls for more open immigration policies

New research commissioned by TransferWise , the international money transfer company, has revealed more than half (55%) of Australians do not believe it should be easier to immigrate to Australia. That’s despite 75% of = Aussies believing the country has been built by immigrants who have made Australia stronger – economically, culturally and socially.

Since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have settled in Australia with residents born overseas making up almost 30% of Australia’s population. Australia lends its success to being an economy powered by immigrants with another 20% of the population having (at least) one overseas-born parent.

To celebrate the UN’s International Migrants Day , the research (conducted by Galaxy Research) sampled over 1000 respondents views to reveal a side-by-side comparison of views between natural-born Aussies and those born overseas. Those currently living in Australia who are born overseas (40%), are more likely than those born in Australia (29%) to think it should be easier to migrate to Australia.

Australian Millennials have a more positive outlook on migration. 44% of Millenials are more likely than Gen X (31%) and Baby Boomers (24%) to think it should be easier to migrate to Australia, while two thirds of Baby Boomers (66%) and the majority of Gen X (53%) do not believe immigration to Australia should be easier.

Most Australians (55%) dream of living abroad with Millennials once again leading the charge (74%), citing job prospects (44%) or better quality of life (43%) as their main drivers for flying the coop. Baby Boomers however are parochial with 54% responding saying they cannot imagine a better country to live than Australia – only 20% of Baby Boomers have lived overseas.

With more than half of Australians surveyed having a close friends or family living overseas, the research also looked at Australia’s understanding of international money transfer services.

The research found:

• One in three Australians have transferred money overseas, but only 20% understand the true cost banks charge (an upfront fee plus a markup on the exchange rate). 18% think there is just an upfront fee, while 47% have no idea how banks carve out a margin.
• One million Australians believe banks provide money transfers overseas as a free service.
• Among those born outside of Australia, around half (49%) have transferred money overseas. The main reasons for transferring money overseas are family and friends (57%), in exchange for goods (34%) and travel related expenditure (20%).

To support the release of the new research, TransferWise also unveiled two new murals in Sydney and Melbourne celebrating Australia’s immigrants, as well as an open letter about the importance of immigration to Australia, signed by by Philip Dalidakis, Victorian Minister for Trade & Investment, Innovation & the Digital Economy and Small Business, and Australia’s startup community including York Butter Factory, inspire9, H2 Ventures, and Startup Grind.

topics immigration TransferWise

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