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WorldRemit Continues African Focus In Instant Money Transfer Partnership With Moroccan Firm

WorldRemit Continues African Focus In Instant Money Transfer Partnership With Moroccan Firm

WorldRemit, an international digital money transfer business, and Wafacash, a Morocco-based financial services firm have partnered in order to provide instant money transfers to a growing set of African markets.

The Moroccan money transfer market-leader and the global remittance company already work together in Morocco and Senegal, but this extended partnership will see their combined operations expanded to serve Cameroon, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger and Cote D’Ivoire by the end of 2017, according to a WorldRemit press release.

The partnership will let WorldRemit customers in over 50 countries transfer money with the same ease of sending an instant message through their app or website, removing the need to visit a brick and mortar location when sending money, while improving security and compliance.

WorldRemit sees the opportunity to benefit from additional contact points within African markets, with remittances to Africa projected to increase by 3.3 percent to $34 billion in 2017, according to the World Bank.

WorldRemit has been focusing on Africa in a big way this year, creating partnerships with established local and international brands, as well as public enterprise in order to get a stronger foothold in the African market.

In August, WorldRemit and the National Bank of Kenya announced an agreement to expand remittance options for Kenyans and those sending money to the country, according to NairobiNews.

The partnership enables Kenyans living abroad to make instant transfers to Bank of Kenya accounts held in both Kenyan Shillings and U.S. Dollars, as well as send funds in cash for collection in Kenyan Shillings at bank branches.

In July, Huawei, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer and ICT solutions firm, and WorldRemit joined forces in the African context, allowing Huawei to offer WorldRemit’s international money transfer service to their African customers, according to CNBCAfrica.

The ready-made solution from WorldRemit was added to Huawei’s existing service offering, benefiting over 100 million mobile accounts that are currently connected to Huawei’s platform.

Wafacash set to benefit from money transfer giant

WorldRemit is responsible for processing 74 percent of all international transfers regarding mobile money accounts through money transfer operators.

Samira Khamlichi, CEO at Wafacash, discussed the significance of her company’s partnership with WorldRemit.

“By extending our partnership with WorldRemit, we wish to contribute to the improvement of the financial inclusion in our country and to the diversification of legal financial channels,” Khamlichi said, according to the press release.

“Our extended partnership will allow WorldRemit customers in over 50 countries to send money to our cash pick-up locations across the region. This is only the beginning, as together with WorldRemit we will explore many other countries and horizons because our main objective is to better cater to the needs of our clients and business partners,” she added.

Wafacash is a subsidiary of major banking institution Attijariwafa Bank, with pay-out points at Wafacash offices and bank branches.

Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO of WorldRemit expressed his excitement at the extended partnership with Wafacash.

“We are delighted our partnership with Wafacash is growing. We have a shared vision that money transfers should be as safe, fast and low-cost as possible. This expansion means more cash pickup points in the region, making our service even more convenient to our customers,” Ahmed said, according to the WorldRemit press release.