Mama Money partners Western Union to allow customers transfer money across the world.

Mama Money, an African remittance platform, has partnered with cross-currency money movement and payments company, Western Union to allow customers to send money across the world leveraging Western Union’s Global Network.

Also, the partnership will help lessen the transfers of physical cash which is an agent in the spread of COVID-19.

Co-founder of Mama Money, Mathieu Coquillon said, “When the April lockdown hit, we saw a massive drop in remittances leaving South Africa due to the restrictions on movement to paying for money transfers and uncertainty. Remittance outflows for certain countries dropped by 90%. However, we’ve seen a very swift recovery since May as economic activities began to resume ”

Since 2017, Mama Money has grown by over 10 times. This strong growth is attributed to how the company has drastically reduced the cost of remittances through an easy-to-use mobile app that helps foreign nationals in South Africa send money home to their families.

In the beginning, Mama Money remitted only to Zimbabwe, now the fintech company’s footprint covers more than 50 countries, providing services to Africa, Asia, and Europe.

“Our average fee is around 3% but we have dynamic pricing which means if you send more per transaction the fees are reduced and can be as low as 0.1%,” Coquillon further stated.

The partnership with Western Union will fast-track Mama Money’s growth in the international money transfer business.

“Western Union’s robust and reliable network, coupled with Mama Money’s easy-to-use and reliable digital service, is a highly strategic partnership with massive potential for tapping into a broader remittance market especially for the unbanked population,” Coquillon added.

With the new deal, over 500,000 customers of Mama Money in South Africa will be able to send money directly from their phones to over 200 countries and territories around the world.