Market disruptor doing its bit to keep Zimbabwean families warm

International money transfer provider, Hello Paisa, part of the Hello Group, continues to disrupt the African remittance market and has just kicked off a three-month winter promotion offering customers the ability to send money from South Africa to Zimbabwe at a zero transaction fee.

Hello Paisa survey data shows that the typical Zimbabwean customer earns less than R3 000 a month and tends to send more money home over the winter months when their children and parents need warm clothing, blankets and face higher electricity costs due to the increased use of heaters.

Chief executive of the Hello Group, Nadir Khamissa, says that Hello Paisa initially launched with a 5% transaction fee for sending money from South Africa to Zimbabwe and that was already favourable compared to the market rate of 10%. "World Bank research shows that Africa has some of the most expensive remittance corridors in the world. It just feels wrong that the poorest people in the world should pay the highest fees to feed and clothe their families. In response to this challenge, we launched Hello Paisa in March last year," he says.

Khamissa says over the last 15 months, the Hello Group has built up a network of high quality partners in Zimbabwe including Telecash, Cabs Bank, TM Stores and Zimpost. This far reaching network in Zimbabwe coupled with a significant customer base gives the company strong economies of scale. "Low cost money transfer has a profoundly positive impact on the families of economic migrants and allows Hello Group to deliver on its mission to transform the lives of marginalised communities through technology," he says. The campaign runs from 11 June until 12 September 2016.

Hello Paisa partners include banks, retailers, mobile network operators and post offices across Africa and Asia and has a number of exciting new partners in the pipeline. "Hello Group is committed to working with our partners to harness the power of technology to create value for our partners and their customers. In addition a number of innovative, ground breaking partnerships will be announced in due course. Offering free money transfer over the winter months to the over 60,000 Zimbabwean customers who have already signed up for the service is testament to that commitment".