However, the world’s mobile money systems are highly fragmented in terms of their underlying technology. A few are built on common platforms like that developed by Ericsson, but many are bespoke.
For us, that means significant engineering work to create direct integrations - connecting systems that were never designed to work together, for an experience that feels seamless.
As technically challenging as that is, it is eminently more achievable than trying to create a new universal mobile wallet.
PayPal offers such a solution and transacts less than half the volume of mobile money services globally, with the latter growing more than three times faster.
Wired to the world
As WhatsApp discovered, fragmentation is not just a challenge, but a potential competitive advantage. Our partners recognise the need to connect their locally relevant services to the wider world.
Banks, mobile operators and cash pickup agents are meeting us half-way, building APIs that allow us to integrate deeply with their systems, or connecting to WorldRemit’s own APIs.
We are able to scale rapidly by making use of our local partners’ existing infrastructure, personnel and brand awareness. So when WorldRemit arrives in a new country, our offering already fits the behaviours, habits and needs of people we are serving.