TerraPay, a mobile-first international payment network, has announced that it has partnered with UBA Group, a leading pan-African financial services group headquartered in Nigeria, to facilitate real-time money transfer services to its customers in 20 countries across Africa.

The service which is currently live in five countries within UBA’s network including Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Cameroon, will be rolled out to the Bank’s other subsidiaries in Chad, Liberia, Senegal, Uganda, Congo Brazzaville, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Mali, Zambia, Congo DRC, Gabon, Mozambique, Tanzania and Benin Republic soon.

Group Head, Transaction and Electronic Banking at UBA Group, Sampson Aneke, while speaking on the partnership noted that Africa is one of the world’s largest recipients of remittances. He also noted that as technology continues to enable cross-border trade and investment, the availability of real-time money transfer services has become very important.

“As Africa’s global bank, we are delighted to open up a fresh opportunity for real-time money transfer in partnership with TerraPay. This is another huge step in improving access to financial services for our customers across the globe,” Aneke added.

Speaking on the partnership, Founder and CEO of TerraPay, Ambar Sur said, “This partnership with UBA Group will play a pivotal role in cross border remittances across Africa, America and Europe. We are delighted to bring the convenience of instant cross-border money transfer, directly to any UBA account in twenty countries.”   

Africa is one of the largest receivers of remittances. Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa grew almost 10 percent to $46 billion in 2018, supported by strong economic conditions in high-income economies. It is projected to increase in 2019 as well.

Earlier in 2017, TerraPay had also obtained approval from the Bank of Uganda to facilitate International money transfers to mobile wallets in the country. The company had also received regulatory approvals enabling cross-border money transfers to mobile wallets in Kenya and Tanzania and became the only licensed mobile payments switch equipped to deliver cross-border payments to mobile wallets in the East African region.

In the last few years, TerraPay has obtained licenses in the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Botswana, Congo B, DRC and South Africa to enable cross-border money transfers to mobile wallets.