How has technology made money transfers cheaper and faster? Financial Technology—or simply FinTech—is the main reason for the decreasing costs and increasing speed of sending money to your loved ones. FinTech includes all types of innovation that help improve your experience in dealing with your finances, including saving, spending, and remitting.
One of the best examples of FinTech is Remitly, which started in 2011 when founder Matt Oppenheimer worked in Kenya and experienced first-hand the difficulties faced by families to receive money from their loved ones overseas. This US-based company has developed technology that can help reduce the problems you face such as high fees, unfair exchange rates, slow transfers, and little security when sending money.
Remitly’s reliable and easy-to-use mobile app eliminates the long wait times, high fees typical of traditional remittance processes, saving immigrants millions every year! With Remitly, you can send money from 17 countries to more than 100 receiving countries in the world. You can send from countries such as Australia, Singapore, UK, US, and Canada to most of Middle East, including Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Turkey, and many more.
You can pay via bank transfer, debit, or credit card. And your loved ones have many options to receive their money: bank deposit, mobile wallet, home delivery, or cash pick-up at any of their 355,000 agent locations. Fees depend on the type of transaction, but particularly depend on speed! With Remitly, you can choose between two transfer speeds:
- Economy: Lower or no fees with transfers taking 3-5 days paid with your bank account
- Express: Paid with your debit/credit card for a slightly higher fee, but your loved ones receive the payment within minutes!
Remitly’s app makes it quick and easy to transfer money. You can track your transfer with the app securely, and your family or friends can easily see the Remitly’s huge network or banks and agent locations to pick-up cash. You have the power to choose!
Join the 5 million users that have enjoyed Remitly’s low fees and competitive exchange rates! You can even get your first transfer free! Follow these steps:
- Go to the Remitly website or download their app (both iOS and Android apps available).
- Enter your email and a password for your account
- Verify your identity before your initiate a transfer to avoid hold ups
- Make sure you have the sender country and target currency pair right
- Choose a plan (Express or Economy)
- Fund your transfer
- Enter your recipient details. Note that they don’t need a Remitly account to receive money.
- Hit send
Article by Malorie Manaois, Financial literacy and remittances, Saver Middle East