Payment solutions provider Cellulant has announced a partnership with fintech Money Q to enable expats to pay for bills and recharge airtime for their Africa-based beneficiaries. As per press release information, following this collaboration, customers will be able to make these payments by leveraging KrosPayz, Money Q’s Africa-wide digital payments platform which enables online payments for transactions and value-added services at the point of sale.

Money transfers in Africa and how the partnership falls into place Mobile remittances are believed to present a unique opportunity for millions of people to access the formal financial system, helping bring financial services and prospects for revenue generation closer to their communities. Based on information provided in the announcement, Sub-Saharan African remittances have seen a 16. 4% increase in 2021, whereas in 2022 the  growth was that of 5.

2%. When talking about the average cost for sending USD 200 over international borders, this remained high in Q2 2022, having been registered at 6%. Mobile operators are thought to provide the best rates (3.

5%), however less than 1% of transactions are made via digital channels. However, as stated in the press release, remittance services are faster and not as expensive due to digital technologies. Set to go live in Malawi in April 2023, the KrosPayz digital wallet will enable customers to: Pay for both national and international utility bill payments; Airtime recharge; Execute domestic fund transfers to individuals and companies; And pay in the local markets for their purchases via QR code.

Cellulant representatives advised that for a multitude of developing economies, remittances are the single largest source of foreign exchange, and they are known to be stable and resilient in the face of economic downturns, having been described as developing countries most stable, abundant, and secure sources of foreign aid. With this collaboration, the company aims to reaffirm its commitment towards enabling businesses, banks, and consumers to make fast and efficient payments across Africa, and by having Money Q leverage its presence and partnerships on the continent, it helps them provide their services across Africa. Money Q’s goal is that of ensuring that no African is deprived of using digital channels on the continent, stating that the collaboration with Cellulant brings them a step forward to ensuring that this is achieved.

Cellulant, Money Q strategy and  offering A Pan-African payments technology company, Cellulant provides locally relevant and alternative payment methods for global, regional, and local merchants alike. The company offers a single API payments platform, Tingg, that helps enable businesses to collect payments online and offline, while allowing customers to pay from their mobile money, local and international cards, or directly from their bank. A bootstrapped technology-based startup, Money Q Fintech Solutions has developed an in-house, customisable, semi-closed loop digital wallet, KrosPayz, and an international remittance platform, KrossRemit.

The company aims to empower African by taking the ‘Last Mile’ approach and offering them the option of going digital no matter the mobile device they use, having the end goal of making the wallet accessible to every smartphone and feature phone user. As detailed in the announcement, KrosPayz offers a multitude of services on its wallet, such as domestic and international airtime top-ups, bill payments, QR code payments, remittances, domestic transfers, loyalty programmes, and micro-finance, amongst others. .