Kenyan fintech firm launches in US to facilitate transfers through e-banking » Capital News
by Elvis Omondi,
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 17 — A Kenyan fintech company Waya Pay has launched in the US in a bid to offer seamless remittances from the diaspora community.
Waya Pay’s launch in Washington DC on Friday was graced by Amb Lazarus Amayo, Kenya’s ambassador to the US, who said the firm had secured the necessary regulatory approval in the country.
The platform which seeks to facilitate the transfer of money across borders was developed by Dr David Wachira and Hempstone Maroria, both Kenyans living abroad.
Waya Pay’s website indicates that fintech aims to improve financial inclusion among immigrants hitherto underserved by conventional banking and financial platforms.
“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 country,” the company’s website states. partial.
Recipients of funds will be able to withdraw their money from any bank in Kenya and also Safaricom’s mobile money transfer platform M-PESA.
Maroria, the company’s founder, described Waya Pay as a cheaper and faster option for transferring funds from abroad compared to banks.
“We invite you to join us on a march toward freedom from high taxes, complexities, inefficiencies and the difficulties immigrants face when accessing banking and other financial services, and especially when sending money home,” he said.
Remittances from the diaspora community make up one of Kenya’s most significant foreign exchange contributors with a recent weekly report from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) estimating remittances in August at US$310.5 million.
For the year ending in August, transfers totaled $3.9 billion.
CBK’s Diaspora Remittance Report also indicated that the lion’s share of money remitted to the country comes from Kenyans in the US after accounting for 22.5 percent of total remittances in 2020.
