Fintech taps bank for remittance in Zimbabwe

South African fintech company, Mama Money, has teamed up with AFC Commercial Bank in Zimbabwe to offer a cross-border money transfer and banking service. This partnership enables Mama Money’s customers to send money to any AFC Commercial Bank branch for collection at 45 locations across Zimbabwe.

Monthly remittance flows from South Africa to Zimbabwe range between $30 and $60 million and make up over 10% of the country’s GDP, according to the World Bank. However, the cost of sending money to Zimbabwe can greatly reduce the impact of these remittances.

In 2015, the average cost of sending money from South Africa was 14%, which is the same year that Mama Money was launched with a fee of just 5%. Now, the average cost of sending money from South Africa is 7%, which is closer to the worldwide average of 6%.

Mama Money facilitates money transfers to over 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Their key markets for money transfers include Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

Mama Money also offers banking services and money transfers to South Africa from Europe and other regions through a free mobile application that can be downloaded from the Google Play or Apple App Store in South Africa. Mama Money is one of the fastest-growing money transfer operators with over 720,000 users.