Uala Wants to Tap Into Mexico’s $60B Remittance Market

Argentina-based FinTech Uala will let its customers in Mexico receive money from abroad in an attempt to capitalize on the burgeoning $60 billion remittances market.

The new service will be overseen by ABC Capital, a Mexican bank Uala is in the process of acquiring, Bloomberg reported Friday (Sept. 9).

“We’re trying to reach part of the population that today doesn’t have banking services, to offer a financial service that allows them to forget about cash and start operating in a more digital and reliable way,” ABC Capital CEO Carlos Hernandez told Bloomberg.

See also: Argentinian FinTech Uala Buys ABC Capital for Ongoing Expansion

The program will let people send money from abroad via MoneyGram to Uala ABC mobile app users in Mexico, one of the world’s three largest recipients of remittances with India and China.

Operations will be limited to $900 per month, according to the report. That money can be used to purchase goods and services with the Uala ABC card or for ATM cash withdrawals.

Founded in 2017, Uala has more than 5 million clients.

Earlier this year, Western Union teamed with MercadoLibre, a South American eCommerce giant, to allow digital remittances to be sent to Mexico.

Read more: Western Union, MercadoLibre Partner on Remittances to Mexico

Stores in Mexico, including giant chains such as McDonald’s, Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks, have increasingly accepted MercadoLibre as a form of payment. Most of the remittances are collected in cash in Mexico as more than half of the country’s 126 million inhabitants don’t have a bank account.

This May saw remittances reach a record high of $5.17 billion, as the United States economy was doing better at the time, leading migrants from Mexico to send more money home.