Finablr announces partnership with African mobile network

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Daniel Webber
Daniel Webber
Founder & CEO
Daniel is Founder and CEO and has 20 years of experience in the international finance world focusing on cross-border payments, technology and the property sectors. Daniel is widely quoted as an expert… Read more
  • Beleaguered firm Airtel, which is owned by an Indian company, to work alongside Finablr to deliver new package of services to the African diaspora
  • Aim is to reduce the amount of friction involved in transactions – and investors respond well to plans, with 2% share rise
  • “This is another important example of how mobile technology will play a key role in changing the way people connect with their homes in Africa”, says Airtel’s Chief Executive

A major African mobile phone network has announced that it will work alongside the owner of Travelex, Finablr, as part of a new deal aiming to help customers receive payments from across the globe.

The deal with Airtel Africa, which is owned by an Indian corporation and which works in 14 nations across the African continent, will make cross border payments that little bit easier by removing the requirement for third parties to be present when the online money transfer is made.

The process for the rollout of the new service will see each country in which the rollout is intended to occur targeted one at a time.

The first country will be targeted by the end of the year.

There will also be a marketing plan aimed at reaching the African diaspora in countries across the globe, designed to encourage them to use the new Airtel transfer service.

For Finablr, the benefit will be clear: a chance to get further into the African international money transfer scene.

In terms of payments coming into Africa, this market is believed to have shot up in value by a tenth over the course of 2018.

It now stands at $46bn, making it one of the world’s biggest.

Airtel Africa’s user group, which numbers 100 million people, is one of the largest.

In a statement, the chief executive of Airtel Africa said that he thought this was “another important example” of how mobile tech is changing the face of African finance.

“We are excited that Airtel Money will collaborate with Finablr to introduce global payments services, enabling customers to make cross-border remittances, pay bills, make purchases and withdraw cash from our outlets and agents across the continent”, said Raghunath Mandava.

“This is another important example of how mobile technology will play a key role in changing the way people connect with their homes in Africa.”

The positive news comes at a good time for Airtel, which has seen some financial issues in recent months.

It recently floated on the stock market at 80p per share but has since not been performing well in this regard.

However, the announcement of the new partnership with Airtel may have done something to reverse its fortunes.

The share price rose by 2% as trading got underway today (Tuesday).

They were seen at 58.5p at one stage.

Be sure that you never miss a beat when it comes to the global cross border payments world by checking out our magazine pages.


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