XPRESS MONEY
THE REMITTANCES
MARKET: XPRESS
MONEY
By Isaac Ngatia
R
emittances play a significant
role in development across
countries in the world. It is
among the top export earner in several
countries in the continent. According
to the African Economic Outlook
(2016), total remittances to Africa
were at 3.28% of GDP, forming over
20% of GDP in some countries such
as Gambia, Lesotho, Liberia and
Comoros. Nigeria and Egypt takes
the bulk of remittances, accounting for
about two-thirds of the amount to the
continent.
The mobile money services are
growing and becoming a key channel.
According to the GSMA’s Mobile
money report 2017, there were 277
live mobile money services worldwide
in 92 countries. Overall, the FinTech
space is growing rapidly, especially
across Africa.
To better understand how the players
in the sector are meeting the customer
needs, especially across Africa, we had
a discussion with Xpress Money, a
player in the remittances market.
The Chief Operating Officer, Mr.
Sudhesh Giriyan, as well as the Vice
President - Global Marketing, Mr.
Ashwin Gedam took us through key
areas in navigating this market.
58 MAL 17/17 ISSUE
Country Amount $ USD (2015)
Nigeria
20.8 B
Egypt
20.4 B
Morocco
6.7 B
Tunisia
2.3 B
Algeria
2.0 B
Ghana
2.0 B
Kenya
1.6 B
Senegal
1.6 B
South Africa
1.0 B
Uganda
0.9 B
Mali
0.9 B
Ethiopia
0.6 B
Liberia
0.5 B
Sudan
0.5 B
Total
61.8 B
What is Xpress Money and what is
your mode of operation?
We are an international money
transfer organization, among the top 3
brands today by volume and network.
Our network covers both pay in and
payout i.e. for sending and receiving
money. We work with many partners
including players in the banking, non-
banking areas; financial corporations;
retail as well as telecom partners for
remittance business.
Xpress Money started in 1999 in the
UK, and then started growing the global
network by putting up an agency here in
the Middle East, and then South Asia
and South East Asia, then expanded
to Africa. Overall, we are in over 160
countries around the world and we are
looking forward to covering over 200
countries in the next 12–18 months,
especially for cash payout services.
What types of services do you offer
your customers?
The main services include; cash
payouts and also account credits. The
global remittance business today is
about US$ 600 billion, out of which
75% is via account credit, and 25% via
cash payment. Account credit is where
the money gets to the beneficiary’s
account. Cash payout is where one
sends money to a receipt for payout
over the counter. Then also via mobile
money transfer, and other FinTech
intermediaries, which are becoming
key enablers in the business. Account
credit may be few in volume, but
high in value, at about US$2,000 to
US$2,500, while the cash payout is
high in volume but remit about US$
350 – US$400 per transaction.
What are your main corridors of
remittances across Africa?
North Africa has been an area under
our coverage – Tunisia, Egypt,