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How Coronavirus Is Impacting Digital Payments in Emerging Markets
Digital payments have been growing rapidly in emerging markets over the last ten years or so, since the establishment of MPESA in Kenya in 2007, writes Pavel Matveev, CEO of Wirex. MPESA relies on 120,000 retail agents who take in and dispense cash to users around the country, and in 2017, MPESA processed 1.7 billion payments […]
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Philippines Based Digital Financial Services Firm Ayannah Merges With Indian Payments Company Equity Capital Advisors
Philippines based Ayannah, an online financial services provider, and India’s payments firm Equity Capital Advisors (ECAPS) have merged their operations in order to provide cost-effective and more accessible financial services to South Asia and Southeast Asia’s growing middle-class population.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- fintech, insurance, remittances
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Pandemic Disrupts Remittances, Leaving Immigrants’ Families Without Lifelines
In normal times, millions of small financial transactions take place daily worldwide when immigrants wire a portion of their earnings to loved ones back home.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- migrants, remittances
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Remittances to Mexico Surge to Record High in March
Mexico received $4.02 billion in remittances from abroad in March, a 36% increase from the $2.96 billion in March 2019, the Bank of Mexico figures showed.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- remittances
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South Sudan’s M-Gurush Joins Mobile Money Remittance Business
The launch of this remittance service comes at a time where digital money transfer services such as mobile money and electronic banking are being supported by various governments as a way to curb the spread of COVID-19.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Migrant Wages Sent Home Set to Drop $142 Billion in 2020
The World Bank on Wednesday said that drop of almost 20% in money migrant workers send home - about four times greater to low- and middle-income countries than during the 2009 financial crisis - would largely be due to a fall in their wages and employment overseas.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- remittances
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In Africa, COVID-19 Crisis Puts Squeeze on Millions Who Rely on Remittances
Remittances amount to 5% of GDP in at least 13 African countries. For some, like tiny Lesotho, they amount to 23% of its annual income. With stay-at-home orders throwing millions out of work in Western countries, millions of Africans are feeling the pinch.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech, remittances
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Reducing the Costs of Migration: How Better Data Can Lead to Better Policy – and Better Prices – in Migrant Remittances
International migration has become a pressing global issue, and one that's likely to grow in the coming years. One way to help economies absorb migrants with minimal disruption is to improve their access to affordable, formal cross-border remittances. But according to Damola Owolade at FinMark Trust, this goal may be easier said than done, as accurate data on remittance pricing can be surprisingly hard to acquire.
- Categories
- Finance