The service will extend from South Africa to more than 40 countries across Africa, including Africa’s largest economies. The joint venture comes at a time when the demand for online money transfers is at its highest due to the Covid-19 pandemic and consumers become more comfortable with digital-first payment solutions.

Over USD$48 billion are remitted throughout Africa annually, a figure which is expected to more than double in the next two years.

Clayton Hayward, CEO, Ukheshe, says that the collaboration is a significant move for the rapidly growing solutions-driven company: “We are very excited to offer increased payment convenience with a seamless cross-border transfer service via boostXB. The service will enable more people to pay and get paid via their mobile devices.” boostXB is already in partnership discussions with various institutions to extend its service offering to millions of Africans who struggle to remit cash due to the complex procedures and prohibitive costs involved.

Richard Beddow, Founder of ForexPeople, says that credible fintech propositions are tipping the market towards streamlined solutions that answer the needs of more people, who until now, have been left outside of traditional financial services: “boostXB is a distinctly African product, answering a real demand for faster, safer and more cost-effective ways of transferring cash from South Africa across the continent.”

boostXB will take a mobile-first approach to digitising remittances to make these services more convenient, particularly for migrant workers. In many markets across the globe, the vast majority of remittances are sent via a physical agent, and is usually subject to high transfer fees.

“This is another great move towards the greater vision of financially including more and more people across the continent,” says Hayward.