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From Heritage to Habit: Why Digital Remittances Languish in Some Cultures But Surge in Others
Thirty years after their introduction, digital remittances have failed to take off. Some 90% of remittances still begin as cash and end as cash - even when banks are the intermediary. Lack of trust, access and interoperability - to name just a few challenges - are keeping lower-income people tied to costlier cash transfers. However, remittance providers and related fintech entities are exploring many new avenues to encourage recipients to keep remittances in the digital ecosystem and possibly use them for other financial products, writes Steven Davidson with Mondato.
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- Finance, Technology
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Press Release: MoneyGram and Wing to Launch a New Mobile Wallet Service in Cambodia
Under this partnership, MoneyGram customers can remit and receive money conveniently via Wing Money mobile app. Customers also have the option to cash out using any of 7,000 WING cash Xpress outlets in Cambodia.
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- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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As remittance market reaches saturation in Myanmar, mobile money keeps growing
If the mobile money market were a football match, then the second half has just begun. As the undisputed market leader, Wave Money is already a few goals ahead. It reports having almost 50,000 agents and more than 11 million customers, who remitted US$2.8 billion between January and September of this year.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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The Missing Piece of the Fintech Puzzle: How Local, Informal Networks Play a Crucial Role in Remittances
The spread of fintech is bringing millions of emerging markets customers – and their relations – into the realm of formal finance. But though they're powered by futuristic technologies, fintech initiatives are often built on complex community networks and informal methods of transacting that have existed for centuries. Researchers Daivi Rodima Taylor and Bill Maurer explore the implications of these roles, relationships and social intermediaries for financial service design.
- Categories
- Finance
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Survey: Cash Payment Still ‘King’ in Kenya, Despite Digital Money Growth
According to the report, just under half of domestic remittances and 30 per cent of bill payments are now made via mobile money.
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- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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National Bank of Pakistan Partners With WorldRemit for Digital Money Transfers
The Pakistani diaspora living in over 50 countries, including the USA, UK, Canada and Australia, can now send money to NBP cash pickup locations using their smartphone.
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- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: Facebook’s Foray Into the World of Banking and Finance Is an Ethical and Regulatory Minefield
In particular, Libra is likely to flourish in highly remittance-dependent economies, like those of the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Pacific Island nations, because high remittance inflows will inject Libra into the local financial ecosystem. The average cost of remittances, globally, is 7 percent, which is scandalous.
- Categories
- Finance
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New Mobile-To-Mobile Digital Payment Service Launched in Africa
WorldRemit’s mobile-first digital model is said to save customers time and money as they don’t need to visit a money transfer agent to send funds home to their loved ones.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa