Moneytrans launches the first mobile remittance App in the Republic Democratic of Congo, giving millions of people the possibility to send money in minutes within and outside Africa.
Moneytrans, a fintech company servicing the low-income migrant population announces the launch of a smart and convenient mobile App that allows customers to send money in minutes to any of its 250,000 locations all around the globe.
We are proud to introduce the first full-fledged remittance App in DRC; we are committed to constantly exploring new venues and to investing in technology to offer to our customers a world of possibilities. We strongly believe in a hybrid multi-channel model, letting our customers choose how to send or receive their money, whether they are cash-based or technology enthusiasts. We are even building bridges between digital & traditional channels of distribution by permitting to convert cash into mobile money that can later be used on our online platforms. That is a real innovation.” said Francisco Sanchez Apellaniz, Moneytrans CEO & Founder.
The Moneytrans App has already been successfully deployed in Belgium, Spain and UK (being strategic markets for Moneytrans), with the aim to further expand across the entire EU. Moneytrans is now ready to take it one step further and enter the African market, starting with the DRC. Established in the DRC since 2004, Moneytrans sees a great opportunity there as its Mobile App will eliminate the hassles of travelling long distances, spending hours queuing at overcrowded branches, and facing other hurdles such as limited working hours or power outages. The Mobile App has a global reach thanks to the 250,000 remittance locations available across the globe from which customers can remit money nearly in real time, 24/7, in a simple and secure way, and at a time and place that suits them best.
The Moneytrans App is the first money transfer App built by its customers:
“The App is intuitive, interactive and really easy to use – reported Moneytrans’ Head of products, Paola Luyo – “we spent the last three years investigating with our customers what they were expecting, why they would prefer to use an App to send their money and how often. The result is great: 3 easy steps to send money back home. After the easiest registration process ever, the customer is set to check the rates and fees and to confirm his transaction. The sender and the beneficiary will both receive an SMS as soon as the money is delivered, ensuring peace of mind on both ends of the transaction. The customers can also use convenient tools such as “Track a transfer“, “View your transaction history”, “Add or change beneficiaries” …We are further working to add new features in the next release, such as a super chat box: as our customers value interpersonal relationships and Moneytrans for its proximity and outstanding customer support, we want to maintain this major competitive advantage. For the time being, we have launched the App on the Android platform (used by 90% of our customers), and will also launch soon the IOS version. In the near future, our other complementary services (Mobile top-up, FX Solutions, Prepaid cards, payment accounts…) will be integrated in the Moneytrans App, making it the very first mobile App of its kind”.
Jeremy De Smet, COO of Moneytrans, added that:
“With our multi-channel & multi-service offering, we seek to reach all migrant workers, expats and travelers and give them a service that is fast, easy to use, flexible and comes with a transparent cost structure: « what you see is what you get». A full service package accessible to everyone, at anytime and anywhere! The African ecosystem requires innovative solutions to increase financial inclusion and drive economic growth. The rise of mobile money transactions is the most visible evidence of this. Moneytrans is actively participating in this revolution in the DRC by offering a state-of-the art remittance mobile App having all the functionalities of the best Apps already in use on other continents. In addition to the consumer mobile App, we have successfully launched in DRC the first remittance mobile terminal for agents (POS) facilitating the access to our money transfer service in remote areas where mobile money can hardly be cashed in or out. This technology allows to massively reduce the costs & logistics of traditional retail branches, thus allowing a faster and much larger business expansion across the huge Congolese territory, while maintaining at the same time a good service quality…”
Leticia Carbajo, Head of marketing at Moneytrans, concluded that:
“Our initiatives in digital finance are a real opportunity to accelerate financial inclusion. According to the World Bank, mobile money services and technologic innovations have allowed over 700 million to reach financial inclusion between 2011 & 2014. Thanks to our unique hybrid model, we have the opportunity to couple technological solutions with face-to-face operations, and thereby to support financial education. We are also partnering with social actors active in Kinshasa, like Lisungi in the health & insurance sector, and IFOD in the micro-finance sector. By leveraging synergies with other sectors such as micro-finance, education, health and insurance, we can substantially increase the impact of initiatives to reduce poverty”
Africa’s population is booming. Over the next 35 years, half of the world’s total population growth will be concentrated in nine African countries, and the DRC will be one of those countries. Despite the efforts of traditional banks coming from across the African continent, the DRC accounts for only 13 million bank accounts openings. It is estimated that over 40 million of Congolese adults are excluded from the traditional banking sector over a population of 75 million habitants, which is primarily due to the lack of bank branches and of ATMs/POS networks in rural areas.
With a strong economic growth (7.7% in 2015 et 5,3% in 2016); a low penetration of traditional bank services; a legal framework that is largely supportive of the development of digital financial services; a telecom market dominated by a small number of operators who have initiated the emergence of a cashless company via their mobile money services; an environment favorable to the arrival of new players and an ever increasing number of Smartphones users (over 35 million); the DRC is a great destination for investment in banking and technology. Moneytrans – whose strategy is to become a neo-bank for migrant workers in Europe – is also seeking to becoming a major digital financial player in the DRC.
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