Cross-border cash transfers are a thing now, but using traditional methods can be expensive for merchants and ordinary people alike.
There are a ton of products that allow people to do just that, but what if some of the solutions offer more, like free cash withdrawals, and easy top-ups, such as loading your wallet directly from M-PESA?
These are the services that Waya offers. The company, whose product is named WayaMoney, was launched back in 2019 in Ghana.
It was founded by Delali Anku, who is also the CEO, and Carol Cherotich, who also serves as Waya’s COO.
According to Waya, their platform basically supports free cash transfers within its app, which is available for both Android and iOS mobile operating systems.
For the moment, Waya is only available in Ghana and Kenya. However, it will soon start operations in Nigeria as it seeks regulatory approval from the country’s Central Bank.
Plans are also underway to launch the product in additional African countries, including Uganda and Tanzania.
The product
Basically, Waya Money functions in the same way as any other modern cross-border cash transfer platform.
For now, it allows Kenyan customers to send cash to their friends and family in Ghana. Ghanaians can also do the same to Kenya.
However, there are a few things you should note.
First, while Kenyans can send cash to each other using the app, for free, cross-border transfers are not free. Nevertheless, Waya Money says it offers the best rates in the market, and that is how it manages to get some of its revenues.
Secondly, the company gets some money from exchange rates.
In the same breath, a Kenyan sending money to Ghana will, of course, have to load his or her wallet in Kenya Shillings.
The recipient in Ghana receives funds in Ghanaian Cedis. Basically, it converts cash to the recipient’s local currency.
Still, in the Kenyan case, customers do not incur any cost when they deposit cash to their Waya Money wallets.
Local withdrawals are also free, which is a welcome idea for many considering other platforms charge high rates when doing so.
Revenue
As said, Waya Money earns some revenue from international transfers, which, as of now, are limited to just Kenya and Ghana. Nigeria should be part of Waya’s market in the near future.
Waya is also working with other partners who might also bundle their services in the platform as a way of generating more income.
The app will also be supplemented with more features in the future to support the company.
For instance, Kenyan users will be able to purchase airtime from Waya Money wallets very soon. The feature is already live in the app, but it has not been activated, yet.
As of now, no bill payment services have been integrated into the app. The services come in handy for users who want to pay for say, cable TV, home internet, or power.
WayaMoney’s upper hand
Products that work like Waya Money often require both the sender and the recipient to have their respective apps on their phones. For instance, performing a cross-border transaction via Chipper Cash requires both parties to have the apps.
However, that is not the case for Waya Money. You can send cash to a customer who does not have the app on their phone. All you need is their M-PESA number, and they will receive the money in their mobile money wallet. All for free.
Remember, though, that M-PESA is mostly used in Kenya, so, that might limit its use case as the company expands to other markets that have not invested heavily in mobile money services as is the case of Kenya.
And here are some interesting numbers…
WayaMoney has about 20K users in Kenya.
The users mostly send the money to Ghana. They also receive funds from the West African state.
According to Waya Money Growth Marketer Mary Idomo, Kenyans send more money to Ghana than they receive.
In the same line, Waya says that it wants to appeal to merchants, who mostly use such services to pay for goods and services.
Cash limits
First and foremost, there are no cash limits when sending or withdrawing money.
However, you can only load up to KES 100,000 to your Waya Money wallet per transaction.
You can only withdraw KES 50,000 per transaction. Remember, withdrawals have no limit so you can do that as many times as you can.
However, remember Kenya has M-PESA transaction limits. Following the start of the pandemic, Safaricom increased daily limits to KES 300,000.
So, you are bound to M-PESA limits if you choose to use mobile money products.
For now, Kenyan users are actually limited to M-PESA because they cannot top up their Waya Money wallet using any other way. Bank/card to Waya loading is not yet here, but that is something Waya says it is working on.
Lastly, when sending a large sum of money, Waya Money takes the customer through extra security steps to ensure that the exercise is completed well and securely.
Know your customer process and customer care
Creating an account on Waya Money is straightforward.
Just enter your email and phone number, and you will receive a one-time password to activate your account.
Then, you will be tasked to verify your account by submitting your ID or passport number, date of birth, and an image/selfie. The system will then check your details and verify your account.
In case of an issue, you can always reach out to Waya Money on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Responses are sent within one minute or so.
Expected features and future plans
WayaMoney says that it will roll out bill payments to the app in the future because it would make a lot of sense to pay for something like Netflix using the app. Our guess is that Waya is working with partners before launching the services.
Airtime purchases will also be integrated into the app.
Soon, you will also be able to top up your Waya wallet from your bank or debit cards. This is actually key because of the M-PESA daily transaction limitations for customers who move a lot of cash, mainly merchants.
Customers will also be allowed to send money to more African countries, including Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt.
Finally, by mid-2022, WayaMoney will launch its services in the UK and Canada.
