WorldRemit, a global digital money transferring giant, is aiming to expand its footprint in Bangladesh by capitalising on the country's strong mobile money culture.
To that end, the UK based company is also looking to bolster its partner network by joining hands with local banks and mobile money service providers, a high official of the company said.
"We predominantly offer mobile-to-mobile money transferring and Bangladesh is perfectly suited for a company like us," said Tamer El-Emary, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of WorldRemit, in an interview with the FE during his recent visit to Dhaka.
"We are one of the biggest players in digital remittance service with 3.0 million customers worldwide," he said.
"Bangladesh, on the other hand, is the ninth-largest recipient of remittances globally. There is a strong culture of using mobile money here and that fits very nicely with our business approach," Tamer said.
The WorldRemit launched its operation in Bangladesh in 2012 and it is already tied up with some banks, telecom operators and mobile money service providers in the country. Recently, the company also partnered with leading local entities BRAC Bank and bKash as part of expanding its business.
As a result, Bangladeshi diaspora living in over 50 countries can now send money to 1.5 million BRAC Bank accounts as well as up to 30 million bKash mobile money wallets. At the same time, 186 BRAC Bank branches and around 30 BRAC SME locations can be used for collection of remittances in cash as part of this service.
"There are many people in this country who probably do not have a bank account but they have a mobile phone," Tamer said, adding that the company would be able to reach those unbanked population through the local mobile financial service providers like bKash and Rocket.
He said the low-cost service is a major competitive advantage for his company. "While you may have to pay, on average, a fee equivalent to 5 per cent of the remitted amount when you use a typical money transferring service, that fee would come down to 1.5 per cent in case of WorldRemit."
"So, there is a big difference between the fee we charge and what other players in the market charge," said Temari, who also worked with global names like MasterCard and American Express before joining the WorldRemit.
Remittance sent from overseas workers is one of the major growth drivers of Bangladesh economy. As per the central bank figure, the country received almost US$ 15 billion in remittances in 2017.
However, remittance inflows have also been dented at times due to malpractices like money laundering and the use of informal channel. The WorldRemit's CCO, however, said that his company's strong emphasis on compliance and monitoring is capable of addressing such issues.
"Compliance is an inherent part of our culture. We spend a huge amount of time and capital to build a unique compliance system and processes including client identification, due diligence and transaction monitoring," he said.
"In addition, as our service is entirely based on an online digital platform, we have a clear visibility and transparency in our system of how a transaction is being done."
Founded in 2010, WorldRemit is emerging as a leader in digital money transfer service. Currently, it is possible to send remittance from more than 50 countries to more than 145 receiving destinations using the WorldRemit platform.
"Our business in Bangladesh has already grown by 30 per cent this year and we expect such robust growth to continue in the upcoming year as well."
"Our foundation as a business entity is quite strong. Globally, we have grown at a rate of 50 per cent for the last couple of years," Tamer said.
"In 2016, we earned revenue worth of 40 million Pounds while in 2017 it went up further to reach US$ 60 million. Meanwhile, we are expecting our revenue to shot up to 95 million pounds this year."
"The challenge of our business is always about building and expanding our partner network, particularly in the recipient markets like Bangladesh," Tamer observed.
"However, I think, we have done a good job in Bangladesh over the last few years-having a very strong partner network and coverage of the market."
"With Bangladesh being one of the largest recipients of inward remittance, the country will be one of our core markets."
"And in the coming years, we will continue to expand this partner network and coverage to keep up this momentum," Tamer said.
