Free chat and calling apps that keep
migrant workers in contact with family members back home are transforming the
money transfer business and online remittance provider WorldRemit is seeking
partnerships to capitalise on this trend, its chief executive said.
Ismail Ahmed, a Somalia-born
entrepreneur who heads UK-based WorldRemit, said he's talking to communication
providers such as Facebook's WhatsApp, Microsoft's Skype or Rakuten's Viber to
help send money to families abroad. WorldRemit, one of Britain's fintech
start-ups, has held talks with several messaging providers and aims to close
deals next year, he told Reuters.
The company expects to handle $1
billion in transactions this year and at least double revenue from 15 million
pounds ($22.6 million) in 2014.
Marking its momentum, it has won
regulatory approval from California that will help it enter the biggest U.S.
market next week. This will drive more business with migrants there who send
money home to Latin America and the Philippines, Ahmed said.
"Partnerships with messaging apps
are coming next year," Ahmed told Reuters in an interview at Web Summit,
Europe's largest annual Internet conference.
"Next year you will hear lots of
announcements," he said of the company's strategy of pursuing tie-ups rather
than acquisitions of its own.
Free, frequent calls home are changing
money transfer habits, as more migrants now send amounts of as little as $20 in
response to specific needs or family emergencies rather than big lump sums once
every month or two, Ahmed said.
Online providers such as WorldRemit are
shaking up the established retail-based money transfer business dominated by
Western Union and MoneyGram by delivering money at lower cost to recipients on
their mobile phones.
Disruption in a market known for high
commission fees and transaction volumes estimated by the World Bank at $440
billion this year is driving a wave of consolidation across the remittance
industry.
In July, PayPal agreed to buy rival
remittance firm Xoom.com for $890 million, while Euronet Worldwide, owners of
remittance player Ria Digital, bought forex firm XE.com for $60 million.
WorldRemit is focussed on executing its
own expansion plans, Ahmed said. "We haven't talked acquisitions with
anybody at this point," he said.
Source: Retures
Time: 11:29 GMT
Date: 07/11/2015
Author: Eric Auchard
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