Flutterwave teams up with Amole to enable Ethiopia remittances

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lutterwave, a major payments technology company in Africa, has announced a partnership with Amole, Ethiopia’s largest mobile digital wallet platform. The aim is to facilitate money transfers to Ethiopia, through Amole, to Amole Wallet, bank accounts and cash pickup at over 2,500 locations across the country.

Amole offers digital payment capabilities and digital products and services to enable users to complete transactions at their convenience. The new partnership with Flutterwave will serve the Ethiopian economy by making remittances easier for over 8 million members of the Ethiopian diaspora, which remits over $5bn annually to Africa’s second most populous country.

International Money Transfer Operators and businesses on Flutterwave, as well as Barter by Flutterwave users, can send money to Ethiopia via this partnership.

The remittance service in Ethiopia is currently seen by many as expensive, with manual paperwork and delays making it challenging and time consuming. The partnership solves these problems by providing instant delivery of funds to the receiver at no fee, with more control over where and how to send money, including transparency from a regulatory standpoint.

According to a report by the National Bank of Ethiopia, more than 75% of Ethiopia’s population is unbanked, while nearly 40% of all bank branches are in the capital city Addis Ababa. The collaboration will extend financial services to these communities, by facilitating remittances from diaspora Ethiopians, hence expanding business opportunities for small and growing businesses in these communities.

To make payment via this new service, a sender outside Ethiopia simply inputs the details of the receiver in Ethiopia, and the payment destination, including the Amole digital wallet, bank account or cash pickup locations anywhere in Ethiopia.

The Flutterwave-Amole partnership will also boost financial inclusion in the country, as users of the service can choose from 2,500 authorised agent locations.