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| Entering a new era: Imperial FX is transitioning from high street to online |
Imperial FX was founded in late 2012 by Ali Alani and soon developed a network of bureau de change stores across Europe and affiliates in the Middle East – most notably in Iraq, Dubai and Jordan.
This was in part due to managing director Alani leveraging personal connections in the region – his family has offered remittances services in the Middle East since the early 1980s.
The acquisition of remittance provider Oi Brasil Finance in 2014 gave the company access to one of the most lucrative corridors for remittance between the UK and South America, and in August it started offering funds transfer to Poland.
The World Bank Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 valued annual remittance outflows from the UK at $11.5 billion in 2014.
Recognizing that economic migration was driving up demand for moving money internationally, Alani announced at the beginning of March that the company had raised £50 million to develop an online platform.
However, he acknowledges that the move from high-street remittance to online has been challenging.
