The Global Money Transfer Summit, one of the most recognized conferences in the remittance industry, will take place on October 10 and 11, 2017 at the Banking Hall in London, and will explore how technological advances are changing the remittance industry.

Organized by the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN), the Global Money Transfer Summit annually attracts business leaders from money transfer companies, banks, regulators, inter-governmental agencies, tech companies and international legal firms to hear from some of the world’s top influencers and speakers.

This year, the main theme for the conference is “The future of remittance – technological advanced and how they will change the industry.” The event will discuss practical strategies around these issues and how to seize the opportunities available in this ever-changing landscape.

Key topics covered will include new regulation, innovation business models, mobile money, Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

“The transitions that the money transfer business is currently going through, both regulatory and technological, are rarely painless and often unsettling – the conference will address those issues head on offering both strategic and practical advice to all those involved in remittance,” said Veronica Studsgaard, founder and CEO of the IAMTN.

The global remittance industry, which totaled US$575 billion in 2016 alone, is massive and yet still growing. According to the World Bank, the industry is expected to reach US$615 billion by 2018.

But with the rapid growth of fintech, digital first remittance firms have entered the remittance industry in force and are now challenging legacy players such as Western Union and MoneyGram, which have so far dominated the industry.

Remitly, a startup co-founded and led by former Barclays executive Matt Oppenheimer, doubled its annualized volume in 2016, processing US$2 billion in transfers. WorldRemit, a remittance company based in London, now processes over 500 thousands transactions a month, while TransferWise, one of the biggest fintech startups in London backed by the likes of Richard Branson and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin, transfers over US$1 billion worth of transactions per month, according to BI Intelligence report.