The Tanzanian business and consumer cross-border payments fintech company NALA Money, which is supported by Bessemer Ventures and Accel, recently announced its intention to make Rwanda a settlement hub for its East African remittance business.
When Nala handles foreign money transfers for beneficiaries in East Africa, those transfers will terminate in Rwanda before being settled into the accounts of beneficiaries across the region if Rwanda is designated as a settlement hub.
After obtaining a payment service provider (PSP) license in Rwanda, Flutterwave, one of the most highly valued privately held fintech companies in Africa, made an announcement in June of this year regarding a similar plan.
Read also: NALA enables Apple Pay payments from the UK and US
The journey so far for NALA
Nala Money, a service that enables people living in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States to transfer money to nine different countries in Africa, recently got a license from the National Bank of Rwanda, which is Rwanda’s highest authority on financial regulation. Because of the license, the company will be able to eliminate the need for third parties and provide cheaper international money transfers.
Nicolai Eddy, chief operating officer of Nala, said: “It means we can aggregate the payment channels ourselves,” Eddy said, “We want to go deeper, and a PSP licence also means that we can process remittance payments for third-party providers and integrate with local banks and telcos.”
With a Money Service Provider (PSP) license in Rwanda, NALA will be able to provide money transfer services through established players such as Western Union. This will give the company the possibility to open up a new distribution and client acquisition front.
In the past, a financial technology company such as NALA would have to rely on payment aggregators such as Cellulant, DPO Payment, or Onafriq (formerly known as MFS Africa) in order to make payments to its customers in Rwanda. According to the World Bank, the total amount of remittances received as a proportion of GDP reached $474 million in the year 2022. According to data provided by the World Bank, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda received a combined total of approximately $6.36 billion in remittances in 2017.
Rwanda has set its sights on becoming a major center for businesses providing financial services. According to the Rwandan ICT Ministry’s plan for the period 2022–2027 pertaining to fintech, the ministry’s goal is to develop “the narrative that Rwanda is the gateway for entering the African fintech market.” ChipperCash and Paystack are among the most recent financial technology companies to set up shop in the country. These two companies are among the most successful on the African continent.
NALA Services
You may send money to nine different African nations with bank transfers, mobile money, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. Even paying payments and shopping for goods directly in Kenya is an option.
You may send money to Africa in a matter of seconds. They have worked with more than 200 different banks in order to provide the most convenient payment app experience.
They will present you with real-time updates on the path that your money is taking, so helping you to make decisions based on accurate information.
Meet the Mama NALA team, an expert, multilingual group that is here to serve you around the clock.
When you transfer money back home, make sure you obtain the greatest rate possible by comparing it to the most recent rates offered by the app’s other providers.