May 2015
mHITs has announced that it’s Australian mHITs Remit SMS mobile remittance service will be temporarily providing FREE REMITTANCE to Nepal to assist with earthquake recovery efforts. This means that no transaction fees will be applied for any money transfers to Nepal.
This initiative has only been made possible through the unprecedented and combined support of all stakeholders participating in the remittance transaction process including Nepalese remittance partner eSewa who are the receiving mobile money network in Nepal.
“Bypassing intermediaries by sending money directly to end recipients can sometimes be more effective than sending money to an NGO or aid agency.” says mHITs CEO Harold Dimpel. “The mHITs Remit micro-remittance service allows people in Australian to send money safely and conveniently to partner mobile wallet operators in other countries simply by sending an SMS including eSewa in Nepal.” he continues. “Unlike traditional international remittance methods, the mHITs Remit service provides very low fees and instantaneous transfer of funds directly to a recipients mobile money account without requiring a transfer agent or bank. Finally, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners and service providers who by removing fees and charges have made this free remittance initiative possible in this time of great need for the Nepalese people.” he concludes.
mHITs is one of the first and only mobile money operators in the world to provide a micro-remittance service. People living in Australia can send money instantly and conveniently by mobile phone to their relatives and friends living in the Nepal by having funds credited immediately to their eSewa mobile money account. In some developing markets, families and communities rely on money sent by relatives abroad to pay for essentials such as food, clothing and medicines.
Sending only a small amount of money to Nepal can make an enormous difference. The mHITs Remit service only requires the mobile number of the recipient in order to send funds and supports payment amounts from $50 to $500. The FREE REMITTANCE to Nepal offer will run until 30 June 2015.
For more information on the mHITs Remit service see www.mhits.com.au/send-money/nepal.
about mobile international remittance
International remittance is the process of sending funds to friends and family overseas. It is the hidden force in global economics with over US$640 billion sent globally per year. By comparison, global foreign aid is approximately US$135 billion.
Banks or money transfer organisations have traditionally performed international remittance with the majority of funds sent to developing countries. However, with the introduction of mobile phone technology and the introduction of mobile money systems in these same markets, a new alternative now exists for funds to be sent directly to a recipient via a mobile money system. This approach is simpler, more secure, is more efficient, provides instantaneous transfer of funds, and bypasses banks in the process therefore reducing the cost of sending money. This means the recipient ultimately receives more money.
Mobile money systems also for the first time provide the ability for funds to be sent to regions of the world where previously money transfer was impossible because of the absence of banks or money transfer operators. Mobile technology significantly lowers the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of presence. The World Bank estimates that reducing remittance commission charges by 2-5% could increase the flow of formal remittances by 50-70% and will account for 33 billion dollars of inward remittances in 2015; already in Kenya, mobile international remittance accounted for nearly 40% of total remittance inflows in 2014.
Reducing the cost of sending each individual remittance encourages the delivery of lower value remittances, at values far less than today’s average transfer of US$200. Lower sending costs also encourage use of mobile remittance over unregulated informal remittance services. The GSMA forecasts that the formal global remittance market could to over US$1 trillion in five years with the help of mobile communications.
For more information visit www.gsma.com.
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