Luup International (Luup), a leading mobile payments solutions provider, and Emirates International Exchange (EIE), a leading exchange house in the United Arab Emirates, announced their intent to cooperate with the aim to enable EIE customers to transfer money across the globe from their mobile handset.
For EIE, working with Luup will open up new markets and diversify its geographical revenue streams. "The Asian remittances corridor comprises 85 percent of our current business income. With Luup, we can now pursue other corridors, especially the UAE to Egypt remittances corridor," said Santosh Tandel, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates International Exchange.
The most recent 2008 surveys estimate that over 700,000 Egyptians reside in the UAE, and AED3.3 billion (US$900 million) were remitted by Egyptians to their families back home. Luup is set to develop a bespoke mobile money transfer solution for EIE that will offer EIE a competitive, customer-focused platform with which Egyptian expatriates can securely and effortlessly remit cash using mobile phones. The platform will also allow EIE to build new and more diversified services and revenue streams utilizing EIE's own infrastructure made up of a large ATM presence across the UAE, 16 branches and its international money transfer network.
"We have always believed in adopting new technologies aimed at better serving our current customers and growing our business base. We are the first money exchange house to link up with Luup and with this partnership we look to develop pioneering services to add value and convenience to our customers," continued Tandel.
The cooperation was announced at the Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) conference in Dubai where Luup executives presented their latest technological advances. "Our business model is built on innovative products and a solid foundation of partnerships with financial institutions. We are pleased to be exploring ways in which our solutions can add value to Emirates International Exchange," said Thomas Bostrøm Jørgensen, Luup's CEO.
"At a time when banks are heavily restricted with regards to credit-related services, our technology and innovation will help them create new transaction-based revenue channels that add value to their customers and shareholders," said Morten Hofstad, Luup's Head of Business Development, MENA region.