FinTech WayaPay Launches Digital Bank, Transfer App
WayaPay, which describes itself as a Kenyan FinTech based in the US, says it has launched its full-service digital banking and money transfer app tailored to the needs of immigrants from Africa.
Kenya’s ambassador to the United States, Lazarus Amayo, joined the launch festivities on September 16 in Washington, DC in Washington, DC, according to Mwakilishi News.
The app was founded by Dr. David Wachira and Hempstone Maroria, according to WayaPay. Amayo said the app and the bank have all the necessary US approvals, the company’s announcement said.
The app allows free money transfers to other users and purchases via bank cards linked to the app. The company states that users of the app can open bank accounts “within minutes” and send money to mobile wallets in more than 10 countries in Africa.
“WayaPay’s goal is to provide unlimited financial access and opportunity to everyone, especially those who are implied, overlooked and misunderstood by the traditional banking systems globally, with an initial focus on people who live and work outside their home countries,” WayaPay says on its website. website.
The app, according to the company, will allow easy transfer of funds from US banks to WayaPay users. The company stated that a result will be that African immigrants will have a chance to “become more financially secure and financially included in the countries where they work and live.”
“Mobile money is one of the biggest African success stories. Waya wants to bring convenient mobile money transactions to banks in the United States, allowing users to transact with each other while allowing the diaspora to send money to Africa in a fast, convenient and affordable way, Maroria said in a prepared statement.
PYMNTS noted that in some African countries — Nigeria, for example — the market for banking apps could be huge because far more people have mobile devices than bank accounts.
See more: How Telco APIs are improving Africa’s mobile money ecosystem
Wachira, who used to be a World Bank official, said Africans around the world send $50 billion home every year but lose $3 billion due to unexpected fees and high exchange rates.
“We not only want to help them move money back home in a faster, cheaper and more affordable way, but we also want to enable them to save, spend and trade the over 80% of their income that remains in the countries where they live and work. ,” he said.
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