HomeSend, an international transfer hub created by MasterCard, eServGlobal andBICS, has been named “the Best Payment Product in Africa” at the Asian Banker Middle East and Africa Awards. The award recognizes payment products that efficiently enable secure, end-to-end transactions for customers, utilizing innovative channels or devices.
As one of the world’s most extensive cross-border money transfer networks, HomeSend bridges the gap between various entities globally such as financial institutions, non-financial entities and mobile network operators, enabling Africans living and working abroad to send money from mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets back home.
“We are extremely honoured to receive this prestigious award,” says Stephen Doyle, Group Head and CEO, HomeSend. “This award recognises the strides we are making in providing a convenient, safe, and cost effective money transfer channel to Africans, many of whom are unbanked and underbanked.”
For millions of Africans, the receipt of funds from friends and family living abroad is an important lifeline.
“Thanks to HomeSend, workers overseas no longer need to worry about whether their hard earned money will be received by their loved ones at home. “
Remittances are also an integral contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of various African economies. The World Bank Remittances Brief estimates that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to increase from $ 33 billion in 2014 to $ 34 billion in 2015.
“Africans abroad are increasingly playing an important role in the development of many African countries through remittances. However, the cost of remitting money to Africa remains high, with a large proportion of remittances being sent informally in cash. By digitizing and formalising remittance payments, we are helping to create new remittance corridors, expand the scope of cashless money transfers, extend financial inclusion and support economic growth,” Doyle says.
HomeSend has live deployments in 50 countries and commercial contracts with mobile network operators and money transfer operators (MTOs) that represent more than 1.2 billion subscribers – the equivalent of one in seven of the world’s population – and 200,000 cash agents respectively.
HomeSend is in the process of connecting its worldwide community of telecom partners and MTOs to the more than 24,000 financial institutions on the MasterCard network to provide consumers with more options and flexibility for sending or receiving funds and enable cross border remittance payments worldwide.
