WorldRemit launches digital money transfers in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: London-based digital money transfer company, WorldRemit, has been launched in Malaysia.

The company’s presence will enable the transfer of money to over 140 countries as easily as sending an instant message, using the WorldRemit application or website.

WorldRemit said in a statement it was accepted as one of only four initial entrants into Bank Negara’s Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox in June, alongside the appointment of Ridzuan Aziz, with experience in compliance advisory and fintech, as country director.

WorldRemit said the digital, mobile-first model significantly improves security and compliance standards.

“It also eliminates the need for the sender to visit a bricks and mortar agent, which can be inconvenient and time consuming,” it added.

It said the move sees WorldRemit expanding its presence in Asia significantly to include Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

It has seen remarkable growth across the Asia Pacific (Apac), which now accounts for almost 25% of all transactions sent by WorldRemit globally.

Remittances sent from Malaysia play an important role in other regional economies and just under US$6bil (RM25bil) was sent in 2015, according to the World Bank and key recipients included the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

WorldRemit Apac director, Michael Liu said Malaysia has a strong economy and flourishing fintech community.

“Any international financial technology business wanting to achieve a real business presence in Apac needs to be in Malaysia.

“The growing recognition of the importance of innovation, through developments like the country’s new regulatory Sandbox and the Digital Free Trade Zone, signifies greater government policy support for businesses like ours,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ridzuan said the company looked forward to offering its services to Malaysians, further supporting the move from archaic offline remittances to safer, faster and lower cost online transfer methods.

“Last month WorldRemit announced a global integration with Google’s Android Pay, followed by a partnership with Huawei’s mobile money platform across Africa.

“The company currently handles 74 per cent of all international remittances sent from money transfer operators to mobile money accounts and is connected to over a fifth of all mobile money accounts globally,” he added.

He said WorldRemit users sent 700,000 transfers monthly to 140 receiving destinations.