- Hello Paisa, which is a leading provider of money transfer services in South Africa, will pair up with iconic international brand Western Union.
- Hello Paisa’s consumers will now be able to send cash home or across the world using a range of Western Union products and services, including transfers to e-wallets.
- Leaders at the two firms agreed on priorities such as helping those who are currently excluded from banking services.
A leading provider of international money transfer services in South Africa has become the latest big name to announce a partnership with Western Union.
Hello Paisa said that it would work alongside Western Union to extend the range of services offered to its customers.
Now, Hello Paisa users will be able to make cash transfers across the world from the Western Union network.
According to a press release from the firm, this will now mean that South Africa-based individuals can transfer the cash directly to the bank accounts of relatives and friends in over 100 nations.
Other options when it comes to receipt include e-wallets across a double-figure number of countries or the use of in-person Western Union branches.
These exist across the world and have a high-profile physical presence.
According to Sayjil Magan, who serves as the managing director of Hello Paisa, the new arrangement will act as a boost for immigrants in the country who may not currently have full access to financial services.
“We have identified an opportunity for effective global collaboration to do our part in enhancing financial inclusion for migrants living in South Africa,” he said.
“Through this partnership, we have been able to expand our reach globally, sparing our customers the hassle to travel long distances to collect their money as we now leverage off Western Union’s vast network of retail agents, bank account and wallet payout capabilities,” he added.
For Western Union, regional vice president for Africa Mohamed Touhami El Ouazzani added that it and Hello Paisa had a similar outlook on technology and addressing the problems faced by those who are unbanked.
South Africa is an interesting economy when it comes to international money transfer.
Despite being one of the largest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (or perhaps because of that), it tends to feature in news about cross-border payment firm partnerships a little less frequently than remittance hotspots such as Egypt or the Philippines.
In fact, on the World Bank’s ordered list of countries by remittances received in 2019, it comes even further down than Brazil, Latvia and Israel.
However, while watchers of the industry may not see it as often as the likes of Nigeria and Pakistan, it is also the case that a thriving remittances market exists here – and this new partnership news means that the industry is about to get a bit more competitive.
The online money transfer industry is always changing, and there are plenty of new and exciting developments to read about it – check them out at our news pages.
