Interoperability as a service: Enabling instant cross-border micro payments to mobile wallets
About
Applicant name: TerraPay
Innovation Name: Interoperability as a service
Innovation Type: Service
Website: https://www.terrapay.com/
Mission: Enabling instant cross-border micro payments to mobile wallets.
Innovation Description: TerraPay provides access to its payout network of mobile wallets with a reach of 500M mobile wallets globally to banks, MTOs, and financial institutions via single API integration, thus enabling their customers to send real-time, low-cost remittances to their loved ones. This, combined with our regulatory cover and clearing and settlement framework, makes us a one-stop-shop for all cross border payment requirements.
Our technology is built to allow the real-time transfer of low-value remittances. Our scalable system (hosted on the cloud) enables a financial instrument to handle large volume – low-value transactions, unlike usual financial systems that handle low volume – high-value transactions. This allows us to do near real-time transfers with 97% of our transactions being delivered to the end-user in less than a minute.
Innovation Inspiration: Around 500 telco-led mobile wallet deployments reach 800M+ customers globally and in markets, where the majority of the population lacks access to a formal financial institution. However, Mobile money services function as islands and can’t easily “talk” (connect) to global financial instruments due to varying technical and regulatory challenges.
TerraPay has been an advocate of financial inclusion and being an IFC investee company, our vision is aligned to achieving the SDG 2030 goal of reducing the remittance costs and mobile wallet remittances are key to it.
The fragmentation prevents mass scaling and limits the utility and reach of formal international money transfers to mobile wallets.
TerraPay’s innovation is targeted for the 250 M migrants globally, who find the current process of transferring money home complex and expensive.
Integrating remittance payment networks with mobile wallets can yield twin advantages of pervasiveness and cost-efficiency and amplify the flow of remittances via regulated channels.
Who benefits from the innovation most? Our target audience categories are::
Sender and beneficiary: End-users of the service
MTOs, banks, financials institutions: Our partners
Regulators: A key stakeholder in terms of promoting remittances via formal channels
Our key markets are Africa and Asia are where mobile wallets are extremely popular and where the majority of the population lacks access to formal financial instruments.
What are you most proud of about your innovation? We’ve made remittances to mobile wallets more accessible, affordable, and instant.
We reach more than 500M mobile wallets accounts in 26 countries in Africa and Asia.
We’ve managed to reduce the cost of low-value remittances($200) in some key markets to 3% from the global average of 7%.
More than 97% of transactions processed by TerraPay are delivered into the beneficiary wallet in less than 1 minute.
The main challenge was to increase customer awareness, which was achieved via various marketing and promotional campaigns in collaboration with send and receive partners.
TerraPay is uniquely positioned in the industry:
– Licensing strategy- Licenses and regulatory approvals in more than 45 countries
– Reg Tech Practice leading to a secure transaction
environment
– Backed by leading investors: TerraPay’s investors (IFC, Partech, and Prime Ventures) are leaders in their fields and bring vast experience and global reach and expertise.
– Implementing and promoting standardized GSMA APIs
(https://docs.terrapay.com/
Status of Innovation: In-market
Innovation Active Since: 10/01/2017
Applicant Type: Private Company
Headquarter City: Amsterdam
Headquarter Country: Netherlands
Year Founded: 2015
Main Category
Main Category Choice: Remittances For Social Impact
Why do you think you should win this category?:
TerraPay has been an advocate of financial inclusion and being an IFC investee company, our vision is aligned to achieving the SDG 2030 goal of reducing the remittance costs and mobile wallet remittances are key to it.
TerraPay’s platform provides a confluence of technological know-how
and the regulatory infrastructure to enable an industry-driven model for
interoperability.
Market Size:
P2P International and Regional Remittances – $600B
TerraPay is now the largest processor of international remittances into mobile wallets to Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique.
We have created corridors that were non-existent or were dominated by informal channels. Eg. UAE to Uganda, South Korea to Africa.
TerraPay’s leadership team has a rich experience in the fields of payments, compliance, banking, mobile technology.
TerraPay is uniquely positioned in the industry being backed by leading investors (IFC, Partech, and Prime) who bring vast experience, global reach, and expertise.
Licenses and regulatory approvals in more than 45 countries.
Secondary Category
Secondary Category Choice: Innovation for Africa
Why do you think you should win this category?
TerraPay has been an advocate of financial inclusion and being an IFC investee company, our vision is aligned to achieving the SDG 2030 goal of reducing the remittance costs and mobile wallet remittances are key to it.
TerraPay’s platform provides a confluence of technological know-how
and the regulatory infrastructure to enable an industry-driven model for
interoperability.
Market Size:
P2P International and Regional Remittances – $600B
TerraPay is now the largest processor of international remittances into mobile wallets to Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique.
We have created corridors that were non-existent or were dominated by informal channels. Eg. UAE to Uganda, South Korea to Africa.
TerraPay’s leadership team has a rich experience in the fields of payments, compliance, banking, mobile technology.
TerraPay is uniquely positioned in the industry being backed by leading investors (IFC, Partech, and Prime) who bring vast experience, global reach, and expertise.
Licenses and regulatory approvals in more than 45 countries.
Team Members
Full Name: Anwesha Mukherjee
Role: Manager- Corporate Communications
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
Full Name: Ambar Sur
Role: Founder and CEO
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
Full Name: Aniruddha Sane
Role: Co-founder and Chief Business Officer
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/
Supporting Links
Series- A fund raise announcement: https://www.terrapay.com/2020/
Partnership announcement with Western Union: https://www.terrapay.com/2018/
Partnership announcement with Visa: https://www.terrapay.com/2020/
Ambar Sur’s (Founder and CEO) podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
