Flutterwave Extends Remittances Solution to US and Canada

Flutterwave has extended its remittance solution to the United States and Canada, enabling money transfers from those countries to Africa.

With this expansion, the Send App can now be used to send money to and from 34 countries around the world, the payments technology company said in a Tuesday (Aug. 1) press release.

“The Send App is a user-friendly remittance solution built on our cross-border experience and global payment infrastructure reach that empowers diaspora Africans to make money transfers to the African continent quickly and easily,” Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga GB Agboola said in the release.

Remittances to the African continent reached an estimated $100 billion in 2022, supporting 200 million people, according to the release.

The Send App aims to make these money transfers faster, easier and more affordable, the release said. The app also provides real-time support and exchange rate updates, the ability to track transactions in real time, and access to discounts on transactions.

“Flutterwave is on a mission to provide powerful payments tools that transform the industry, and the Send App is one example of the innovative solutions we are offering,” Agboola said in the release.

The global remittances market, which grew by 5% in 2022, is being reshaped by digital disruption. Technology has propelled cross-border solutions more fully into the digital age and in many cases away from the brick-and-mortar settings where agents receive cash on one end of the transaction, redeemed in cash in another country.

In another development in this space, financial services company TerraPay said July 19 that it has launched a cross-border remittance partnership with Kenyan telecommunications firm Safaricom.

This collaboration will operate through TerraPay’s remittance provider Mobex and let more than 30 million M-PESA mobile wallet holders in Kenya send real-time payments to Bangladesh and Pakistan, with plans to bring the program to India and Nepal in the months ahead.

Indian cash back and rewards app Abound announced July 3 that it has raised $10 million to expand its remittance offering.

The app, which is designed especially for Indian expatriates living in the United States, aims to simplify the process of sending money abroad.