10 November 2020, PR.
An Australian FinTech company has announced that its mobile remittance service, Rocket Remit has expanded its mobile money transfer service to include Vodafone M-Tala, Samoa.
This reaffirms Rocket Remits position as the leader in mobile remittance from Australia to the Pacific Islands with the largest remittance coverage of mobile money in Pacific countries.
The Rocket Remit mobile remittance service to Samoa now allows any Vodafone Samoa subscriber to receive funds instantly from Australia via Vodafone M-Tala mobile money. With around 20% of GDP in Samoa coming from inward remittances, the Rocket Remit service represents a financial lifeline for people in Samoa and for the many Samoan diaspora living in Australia.
“We have heard our customers and went hard to work to ensure their needs are met. One of those needs was to allow money transfer from Australia directly to their Vodafone M-Tala. Therefore today, we’re pleased to announce our partnership with Rocket Remit. We understand these are trying times and our people are more reliant on international remittances from loved ones in Australia than ever before. Great news is, all that is now possible and staying true to our Always More Campaigns, Vodafone offers over 44 locations across Samoa for a more convenient withdrawal process – this means our customers can beat the queues and even those in the rural parts of Samoa can save travel time to do other important tasks.” Says Nofoasaefa Satish Sharma CEO Vodafone Samoa.
During COVID-19, the reliance on inward remittance to the Pacific Islands is expected to increase due to the lack of domestic income from tourism in these markets. To assist with the COVID-19 recovery, the Rocket Remit service to Vodafone M-Tala Samoa will not charge any transfer fees until the end of November.
Vodafone’s M-Tala was launched in February 2019 and has been the most popular mobile wallet in Samoa as M-Tala is the only mobile wallet to allow users to pay their utility bills such as their SWA Water Bill, their Vodafone Bills and also purchase EPC Cash Power from anywhere in Samoa. The platform also allows customers to purchase Top Up and send and receive money from loved ones locally and now receive money from Australia.
“To mark the first ever International Money Transfer to M-Tala, we’re celebrating this launch by offering a Zero withdrawal fees for our local customers until the end of November, 2020. M-Tala is easy to sign up for, visit www.vodafone.com/m-tala and register online or visit any of our Retail Stores with an ID. You will then experience the convenience, secure and easiest mobile wallet in Samoa and can use it without the need of data.” Says Vodafone CEO, Nofoasaefa Satish Sharma
“Rocket Remit specialises in international money transfer via mobile moneymaking it the world’s fastest and simplest way for sending money from Australia to emerging markets overseas” says mHITs CEO Harold Dimpel. “Money transfer is instantaneous with funds directly credited to the recipient’s mobile money account without requiring a transfer agent or bank. No other transfer method or payment technology including crypto currencies can achieve this level of transaction speed and convenience” he continues.
Rocket Remit requires only the mobile number of the recipient to address the payment. Recipients receive funds instantly and automatically receive an SMS notification as funds are immediately credited to their mobile money account in their local currency. The recipient can access the funds instantly and securely from their mobile money account directly or depending upon their region, may also withdraw funds in cash via an agent.
Known also as digital remittance, mobile money transfer also offers the lowest cost method for sending money to emerging markets where economies rely on money sent from relatives and friends working overseas.
For more information on the Rocket Remit service visitwww.rocketremit.com. Or www.vodafone.com.ws/m-tala. Have we put details on the website if you are asking customers to go to website. If not pls do so
About mobile international remittance
Remittance is the hidden force in global economics with over US$640 billion sent globally per year. By comparison, global foreign aid is approximately US$135 billion (approximately one fifth).
Banks and money transfer operators have traditionally dominated international remittance with the majority of funds sent to developing countries. However, with the introduction of mobile phone technology and the introduction of mobile money systems in these same markets, a new alternative now exists for funds to be sent directly to a recipient via a mobile money system using their mobile number as an account number. Mobile money is simpler, more secure, more efficient, provides instantaneous transfer of funds, and because the transaction is independent of the banking system, is less than half the cost of traditional money transfer.
Mobile money systems also for the first time provide the ability for funds to be sent to regions of the world where previously money transfer was impossible because of the absence of banks or money transfer operators. Mobile technology significantly lowers the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of presence. The World
Bank estimates that reducing remittance commission charges by 2-5% could increase the flow of formal remittances by
50-70%.The mHITs Rocket Remit mobile remittance service is helping to achieve this goal. Reducing the cost of sending
each individual remittance encourages the delivery of lower value remittances, at values far less than today’s average transfer of US$200. Lower sending costs also encourage use of mobile remittance over unregulated informal remittance services. The GSMA forecasts that the formal global remittance market could increase to over US$1 trillion in five years with the help of mobile communications. For more information visit www.gsma.com.
about Vodafone Samoa
Vodafone Samoa Ltd is Samoa’s leading telecommunications company offering Mobile, Broadband, IPTV, M-Tala (Mobile Wallet),FTTH, International data bandwidth, VM hosting, EPABX and Fixed Line services to Consumer and Business customers with maximum mobile coverage with 93 sites which is maximum by any operator on the islands. Vodafone Samoa works closely with the Vodafone Group, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and other operating companies to deliver cutting edge technology to the people of Samoa. For more information visit www.vodafone.com.ws.
about mHITs
mHITs (pronounced Em-HITS) is a multi-award winning Australian based developer and operator of mobile payment services. In Australia, mHITs operates the mHITs Rocket Remit mobile international remittance service which has more than halved the cost of sending money from Australia to emerging markets overseas. mHITs is also working in emerging markets in the design, deployment and operation of mobile payment solutions for the so called “unbanked” (people who do not have access to traditional banking or electronic payment services).
Use of the mobile phone as a payment device is acknowledged as a logical payment solution for the unbanked as people in developing countries often lack the formal identity requirements that traditional banking services require such as a birth certificate, formal ID, address, regular employment or income. The lack of bank branches, limited number of ATM’s, limited access to the Internet and the general low level of financial literacy in developing countries are contrasted by the large-scale uptake of mobile phones in these same markets.
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