Malaysia-based Tranglo, a cross-border payment firm, has established four new payment channels that are connected to financial networks in Brazil, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. The payment corridors mark the Fintech firm’s first entry into Sub Saharan Africa and Latin American (LatAm) regions.
Tranglo’s management stated that they plan to do their part in reducing the overall cost of remittance payments in these areas.
World Bank data shows that Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most expensive regions to send money to, averaging around 8.5% per transaction to send $200 during Q3 2020. Meanwhile, it costs around 5.8% of the transaction to send the same amount to Latin American regions. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals has recommended lowering the cost of transactions to 3% by 2030.
Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda reportedly ranked 1st, 2nd, and 7th respectively in the world’s list of top 10 largest remittance recipients in the region last year, according to World Bank data. Remittance inflows for these countries was valued at $25 billion (or 43% of the total value of such payments in the region).
Tranglo’s network in these areas is supported by major online wallets, instant banking services, and cash pickups as well.
Meanwhile, remittance inflows to Brazil were valued at $3 billion last year. Despite projections of the global decline in remittance payments due to the COVID outbreak, Latin America has been fairly resilient, especially Brazil, which reported no contractions in growth during 2020.
With around three-fourths of remittance payments in Latin America originating from the United States, Tranglo had initially expanded operations to the North American markets via strategic partnerships with established players, which included integrating their international transactions infrastructure with Tranglo’s API.
Tranglo’s Brazil-based network includes direct bank transfers and cash pickups.
Tranglo’s single interface platform is supported by domestic and international partnerships, and it is currently accessible in more than 23 countries.
Jacky Lee, CEO at Tranglo, stated:
“It is just the first of many to come. We are already planning to expand into countries like Mexico and Argentina next, bringing our cross-border payment solutions to even more businesses in the region and beyond. We are also focusing on enhancing e-wallet support to stay ahead in the digital economy, so stay tuned for more exciting development this year.”
