WorldRemit seeks money transfer nod as it eyes MPESA dominated sector

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 23 – Global payments company, World Remit says that it is seeking the approval of the Kenyan government to start sending money out of Kenya to other parts of the world as it seeks to get a piece of the lucrative cross-border payments services enjoyed by M-Pesa among other digital companies.

Customers in Kenya can only receive money from overseas through banks, mobile money services, or cash pick-up points.

Sharon Kinyanjui, the firm’s head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa for Receiver flows told Capital Business that the firm is engaging with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) which it hopes will grant it the approval to share the market with firms that enable Kenyans to send money beyond the border.

“We are working with CBK to get approval from the Government. It’s not easy to get regulated to be able to send funds within Africa, there are very few companies that send money out of Kenya,” she said.

Already, she said the firm has been licensed to send money from South Africa, Rwanda, and Uganda.

She cited tough regulations in Africa and Kenya as a key hindrance for Worldremit which seeks to be authorized to enjoy cross-border transactions which has gained so much traction across the continent owing to increase intra-Africa trade, education, and partnerships among countries within the region.

“It’s not easy to get regulated to be able to send from Africa to other markets unlike countries overseas where its easier to be able to set up. The pace is not as good as here, the process of vetting is not necessarily easy but hopefully, it becomes easy,” she said.

Further, She acknowledged the competitive nature of cross-border payments which is attractive to new startups and companies that bank on fundraising.

“It is very attractive to set up in Kenya because there is money and everyone wants to send from Kenya and we have M-Pesa and efficient financial services. there are new startups that set up companies and want to take advantage of the market,” she said.

Kinyanjui noted that in order to stay top of the game, the firm is seeking ways to add value and stay relevant to its customers.

“We are seeking new ways to improve speed time and have fair pricing regimes which will enable more customers to work with us,” she added.

Besides, she noted that Worldremit is exploring blockchain technology whose use is gaining traction across the globe, and finding out whether its use has the potential to boost payments security.

“For us, it is more about bitcoin technology, it holds a lot of interest for us as we are looking at secure and fast payments if there is a faster way to send money,” she added.

In Nigeria, the firm says it’s already in talks with the Mohammed Buhari government to find out how it can partner with the newly launched e-Naira.

“We have engaged the CBK which has recently published a paper exploring the possibility of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) use in Kenya and we are giving the input on the same,” Kinyanjui added.