According to the World Bank, South Africa is the most expensive country to send low-value remittances to neighboring countries. It amounts to 18.69% against 8.9% for the world average. This situation led tech entrepreneurs to implement a practical solution.
Mama Money is a fintech solution developed by a young South African company of the same name. It allows you to send money to more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe at competitive rates. The Cape Town-based startup was founded in 2013 by Mathieu Coquillon and Raphael Grojnowski.
“We want to create a company that faces a social problem, which is the high cost of remittances for low-income people. As a business, instead of being driven by profit, our model is to reduce profits. Also, if the market as a whole reduces commission costs, then we will achieve our goal,” said the founders.
The solution has a mobile application accessible on Android and iOS. Thus it is possible, from a smartphone, to carry out various financial transactions. After downloading, you also need to upload your ID. This can be a passport, foreign identity card, South African identity card or a refugee or asylum document. Registration is completed by taking a clear selfie. Account activation may take up to 24 hours.
Apart from the app, Mama Money also has a USSD code. People can make their transactions even if they don’t have a smartphone. The fintech offers advantageous rates and various financial operations are guaranteed by the South African Reserve Bank.
In Africa, it is present in Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The application has been downloaded more than 500,000 times on the Android Play Store. In 2019, Mama Money won the top prize for the best fintech at the annual Southern Africa Startup Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
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