November 2014
The mHITs Remit mobile international remittance service was the WINNER of the Mondato Asian Mobile Financial Service (MFS) Innovation of the year for 2014. The award was announced at the Mondato Summit Asia held on November 11th and 12th in Singapore.
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The mHITs Remit service provides low cost, instantaneous cross-border money transfers via mobile phone to counterpart mobile money services in overseas markets. The disruptive model significantly reduces the cost of international money transfer to developing countries as it bypasses banks and money transfer organisations. The service is unique in that it uses the mobile number of the recipient to address and route the payment.
“The mHITs Remit micro-remittance service allows people in Australian to send money safely and conveniently to counterpart mobile money operators in other countries simply by sending an SMS. Countries include GLOBE GCASH and SMART Money in the Philippines, MTN Mobile Money in Ghana, M-PESA in Kenya, Telesom ZAAD in Somaliland and Indosat Dompetku in Indonesia” says mHITs CEO Harold Dimpel. “Unlike traditional international remittance methods, the mHITs Remit service provides very low fees and instantaneous transfer of funds directly to a recipient’s mobile money account without requiring a transfer agent or bank,” he continues.
WINNING the Asian MFS Innovation of the Year Award is recognition that the mHITs Remit model is both innovative and viable, solving a real problem in the world where sometimes entire communities rely on income earned and sent from friends and family overseas. While implementing the mHITs Remit service has not been without its challenges, mHITs is one of the first mobile money operators in the world to provide a mobile cross-border micro-remittance service.
For more information on the mHITs Remit service see www.mhits.com.au/send-money.
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 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%. 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.
Mobile communications can also drive significant growth of the formal remittance market and has the potential to vastly improve and transform access to remittance funds for people in developing countries. 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.
about the Mondato Asian MFS Innovation awards
The Mondato Asian MFS Innovation of the Year Award was announced at the Mondato Summit Asia held at Raffles Hotel in Singapore between 11 and 12 November 2014. The Award recognises excellence and innovation in Mobile Financial Services and represent some of the most innovative MFS solutions from emerging start-ups as well as established companies paving new paths in the industry.
For more information on the Mondato Awards visit www.mondatosummit.com/asia#mondato-awards-asia
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