SendSpend, the global remittance and wallet application, announced today that it has received the Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom to issue e-money and provide cross-border remittance services from its UK headquarters.
The company co-operated with AuthoriPay Ltd, a leading payments consultancy to facilitate their authorisation and advise on suitable Fintech partners.
As a regulated EMI in the UK, SendSpend can now continue to extend its global financial reach to both businesses and consumers in UK, complementing the operations of its subsidiaries in India and South Africa.
The SendSpend platform, which has already launched in South Africa, is entirely digital, free for consumers, and can be used within minutes of registering via a downloadable App.
Unlike most other mobile payment systems, which are either linked to a bank account, a traditional payment card, or a mobile operator, SendSpend isn’t. It is owned and operated by SendSpend itself. This eliminates unnecessary costs and complexities in the supply chain, enabling a more affordable and user-friendly service both to merchants and consumers.
The newly granted emoney licence will allow SendSpend to offer:
• A Customer e-Wallet App
• An Agent Services App
• An e-Commerce and POS Payment Gateway including QR Code functionality
• A Suite of API’s for corporate integration
• An FX Suite for multi-currency transactions
“We set out to develop a payment system that was affordable, secure and functional”, said Graham Davies, one of the co-founders of SendSpend. “Also, SendSpend’s flexible and dynamic architecture enables us to adapt to different compliance and regulatory requirements encountered in different countries and regions. This allows us to offer a full suite of services and functionality when competitors often can’t”.
For those UK citizens wishing to send money to friends or families in Africa, a unique feature is the Agent Search function allowing customers to find agents close to where the recipient lives or works, similar to how you would find an Uber. Available agents are displayed on a Google Map, showing the distance and fees each Agent charges for a deposit or withdrawal, giving the consumer power to easily compare available options. Cash In/Out agents include mass-market retailers, township stores, and even ATMs.
“Our Smart Agents are the backbone of SendSpend’s Agent Network”, says Tracy Andersson, SendSpend’s other co-founder. “We’re taking financial services right into the villages and rural areas that frequently pose a challenge to financial institutions. Consumers no longer need to travel long distances to collect a remittance. Our goal is to enable economically marginalised consumers to participate in the digital economy by having access to financial services like insurance, money transfers and online buying”
Payment systems aimed at the unbanked are nothing new. However, their legacy has always been of a product developed for the worlds banked population with a few minor tweaks. They have failed to adequately accommodate the specific challenges of an individual with no formal banking facilities or experience. SendSpend’s goal was to address this issue. It was built from the get-go to be an end to end electronic payment system for the unbanked. A system built with one thought in mind: To provide someone with physical cash in hand an affordable and immediate means to electronically pay someone else.