Payza Brings Remittances To Rural Areas

Last time we spoke to Alastair Graham, CEO of Payza, he had just been nominated for his current position. At the time the company had nine million customers and was looking into taking on the next nine million.

One of the ways in which it is trying to do so is by investing seriously in country-to-country remittances. A highly profitable business, country-to-country remittances amount to more than $200 billion daily. Payza recently entered the Bangladeshi market and became the first online payment processor to be licensed by Bangladesh Bank to provide international money transfers.

“The product itself is a very simple to use remittance service,” Graham explains. “Our system is fully integrated into the Bangladeshi electronic fund transfer network, so anyone of our members can go into our site, login…put in the payment details…and click send.” The money can then be picked up in in over 3000 urban and rural locations throughout the country.

The mobile element of this service is a mobile-optimized site. This means that customers can use their smartphones in the same way they use their desktop to send money. Such a service could really change the remittances market. Unlike MoneyGram and Western Union users can simply use their phone, without the need to go to a physical location. Additionally it provides lower rates than competitors like PayPal which already provide mobile services.

The service is proving very successful in Bangladesh and there are plans to expand this service to other countries throughout Asia and Latin America in 2013.

Despite the serious investment in the remittances market, Payza is still betting on its other markets, such as eCommerce. “We don’t want to be a one trick shop,” Graham said. We want to make sure we are covering all the areas with the same attentiveness. Payza also plans to expand their geographic presence for localized banking in 2013.

To listen to Alastair Graham on Payza’s next nine million customers, their new remittances service and more, listen to the podcast below.

   


Alastair Graham, CEO, Payza

Payza provides a payment platform for e-commerce, corporate disbursements and remittances worldwide, as well as a highly secure e-wallet that provides businesses and consumers with solutions for sending and receiving payments worldwide.

Payza also provides merchants numerous tools and services including fraud screening, dispute resolution, currency exchange, global payouts and disbursement services. The company offers access to payment services in both traditional and emerging markets. It operates in 197 countries and 22 different currencies with over 9 million members, and 75,000 merchants.