The huddles many Africans who work outside their countries of nationality face when trying to remit funds back to their home countries may be coming to an end with the launching of a partnership between Ecobank Group and Alipay.

Both organisations signed a cross-border remittance agreement yesterday February 12, which gives workers the opportunities to tap into the versatility of Alipay in achieving financial inclusion.

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Alipay is the world’s leading payment and lifestyle platform, that aims to bring more inclusive financial services by providing a fast, safe, affordable and convenient way for workers to transfer money back home.

The partnership will facilitate instant transfers from Rapidtransfer, Ecobank’s remittance solution, to users of Alipay, which serves more than 1.2 billion people globally together with its local e-wallet partners. This provides an additional channel option which will increase options available to users, help lower transaction costs and enhance the quality of service in the market.

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According to Nana Abban, Group Consumer Banking Head at Ecobank, this agreement will serve as a natural extension for the pan African Bank to use Alipay to deliver the same advantages the Bank has with Rapidtransfer to migrant workers across Africa. “Through our partnership with Alipay we are further leveraging the scale and capacity of our unified payments ecosystem on the global stage.”

Alipay’s head of global remittances business Ma Zhiguo acknowledges the of the partnership with Ecobank as a right step which will be augmented by Alipay’s technology “to bring fast, affordable, and convenient remittance services to more users globally, especially workers who are living far from home,” noting that Alipay is “ committed to working with partners such as Ecobank, using innovative technologies to help global consumers gain access to inclusive financial services, creating greater value for society and bringing equal opportunities to the world.”

The solution will be rolled out across our entire footprint, subject to required local approvals.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry