Popular global payments company, WorldRemit has reduced transaction fees for remittances to Africa.
The lowered transfer costs are aimed at enabling Africans in the diaspora to send more cash to their families back home via WorldRemit App or website.
WorldRemit management said the move is in line with the company’s commitment to supporting remittance flows across Africa and helping the diaspora to support family and friends back home.
The reduction of transfer costs, which is the biggest drop in WorldRemit’s history, is good news to Kenyans abroad, especially those living and working in North America and Europe.
Kenya is the fourth-largest recipient of diaspora remittances in Africa behind Egypt, Nigeria, and Ghana. Last year, Kenyans abroad wired home a record $2.8 billion (Sh306.2 billion).
Kenyans abroad sent home Sh28.8 billion ($263.2 million) in October, data by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows.
Diaspora inflows have remained Kenya’s leading source of foreign exchange since 2015 ahead of earnings from tourism, tea, coffee, and horticulture exports.
In August, WorldRemit announced it had agreed to acquire Africa-focused, app-based remittance company, Sendwave in a deal believed to be worth more than $500 million.
Currently send wave does not…
Currently send wave does not charge any fees and only makes money from exchange rates. If this changes, western union, here we come!
Its time you sanitize that…
Its time you sanitize that Sendwave app in your phone. Just incase they forgot to delete your passwords during the transfer to WorldRemit.
Saddened that Sendwave sold…
Saddened that Sendwave sold itself to World Remit. If they introduce charges I am gone! Already shopping for other ways to send. Have been using REMITLY along with SendWave, so I have some redundancy for now.
Sendwave is so efficient and…
Sendwave is so efficient and reliable, and they don’t charge any fees. And already the new owners are talking about ‘reducing fees’, as if they exist. I have a feeling of deja vu. Whoever created Sendwave was genuinely interested in helping people send money. The new owners are there only to make money. Profit motive will soon overtake reliability and efficiency. Any signs of hidden charges, and l will take off.
SendWave makes tons of money…
SendWave makes tons of money from exchange rates. As I write this, Wave has 106.82/- to the dollar while the official exchange rate is 110.25/- realizing a gain of 3.43/- or about 3% …….. a very healthy profit margin. The idea that it doesn’t charge a fee is a clever business tactic that has worked well to hoodwink we gullible folks who don’t understand or care to see how it works. All the same, truth be told, Wave imeokoa jahazi. It’s worked really good for many of us. Quick advice – beyond a certain threshold, you are far better off wiring your money in dollars and exchanging it yourself or get help from the other side so that you can take full advantage of the exchange rates
It is a clever tactic not to…
It is a clever tactic not to charge a sending fee and only make money on the exchange rate I admit. But you have to give it to them. When we used to use WU or MoneyGram, they made money of a fee and had even worse exchange rate, so they sucked us quite a bit. Recently I wired some money then negotiated my rate. Wiring cost me $50. The official exchange rate was about 107.5. The bank gave me 106.2. SendWave was at 105.3ish Now did It make much of a difference. Not really if you factor the wiring fee. Wiring only makes sense if you need to send funds that exceed limits that SendWave or any other remitter allows.
What’s the exchange rate…
What’s the exchange rate with WorldRemit?
Hi All! My name’s Rachel and…
Hi All! My name’s Rachel and I’m a Director of Growth at Sendwave. Just wanted to address some of the fears about us being acquired by World Remit. We’re still dedicated to our mission to make send money home affordable. Once we become part of World Remit, we’ll still be operating largely independently and we’ll continue to set our own policies around fees. So don’t worry, we’ll be staying the same great Sendwave service we have been well into the future 🙂 Appreciate so much that you use our app and please get inn touch if you have thoughts on things we could do be doin better! I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks for your assurance…
Thanks for your assurance Rachel ‘Director of growth’ Can you please send an official email to all your Sendwave customers advising on this? We have not received any official communication on this merger or buyout or ?? and currently busy shopping for other options as world remit kinda sucks on the fees!!!!!