Bank of Abyssinia (BOA) has joined forces with leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit for digital money transfers to Ethiopia.
Ethiopians living abroad in over 50 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, can now send money with a few taps from their phones to over 1,200,000 Bank of Abyssinia accounts and more than 317 new cash pickup locations across Ethiopia – from Woldia to Moyale.
WorldRemit has been rapidly expanding in Ethiopia, with transactions from the USA alone growing by over 230% in 2018. The company offers a variety of convenient ways for recipients with or without a bank account to receive money, including bank transfer, cash pickup and mobile money.
BOA is one of Ethiopia’s leading private banks. The company offers deposit and savings accounts to suit a diverse customer base as well as international banking and money transfer services. WorldRemit is BOA’s digital remittance partner to enable Ethiopians to send money home directly from their phones, without having to travel to a money transfer agent and pay expensive fees.
Remittances play an important role in Ethiopia’s economy. According to the National Bank of Ethiopia, the diaspora sent home over $5 billion for the fiscal year 2017/ 2018. However, evidence suggests that a significant portion of remittances to the country still go through informal channels, which are often costly and put customers at risk of fraud and transaction delays.
Andrew Stewart, Managing Director for Middle East and Africa at WorldRemit, commented:
“As Ethiopia, Africa’s fastest-growing economy, becomes increasingly digital, WorldRemit is delighted to partner with leading financial institutions like Bank of Abyssinia to make it faster, simpler, and cheaper to receive money from around the world. Whether you’re in Washington or Winnipeg, we make sending money home as easy as sending an SMS. Over 90% of WorldRemit transactions are authorized within 10 minutes and customers can track their money’s journey in real-time using our ‘Track your Transfer’ function.”
Kagnew Wolde, Executive Director – Marketing Department at Bank of Abyssinia said:
“Remittance plays a pivotal role in improving Ethiopia’s foreign currency reserve position. The partnership agreement between Bank of Abyssinia and WorldRemit could not thus come in better time as the Ethiopian Diaspora are mobilized in response to the new socio-political ecosystem. We believe that the platform created by this new partnership shall change the way remittances are handled like never before. The partnership between our two companies shall also make transfer simpler, faster and at the lowest cost making the service experience for our esteemed customers like never before.”
WorldRemit customers complete over 1.3 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to over 145 destinations.
