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Online money transfer service WorldRemit today expands its service to Armenia by offering remittances to MobiDram, the mobile wallet offered by VivaCell. Founded by Dr Ismail Ahmed, ‘the man changing the world of remittances’ according to the BBC, WorldRemit is a quick, convenient, and low-cost way for people to send money to friends and family abroad.
With the WorldRemit app, people in 52 countries can now send money to Armenia, anytime, anywhere. Money is sent instantly to MobiDram mobile wallets – just like an instant message.
According to the World Bank, remittances contributed more than $2bn to Armenia’s economy in 2014, equivalent to almost 20% of its GDP. [1] There are at least 780,000 Armenians working abroad;[2]the total number of Armenians in the diaspora is thought to be larger than the country’s population.
With 82% of Armenia’s adult population without a bank account, mobile financial services such as MobiDram hold great potential for the 3.3 million mobile subscribers in the country, especially those who are recipients of remittances. [3] [4]
Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit commented:
"WorldRemit is revolutionising money transfers. We know how Mobile Money will be the first and only means of financial services for hundreds of millions of people – we are therefore delighted to bring mobile-to-mobile remittances for the very first time to Armenia.
Armenians in the diaspora will no longer have to pay extortionate fees to send or receive cash at inconvenient agent locations – they can now send money home just like an instant message.”
[1] World Bank - Annual Remittances Data 2014
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/
[2] World Bank – Bilateral Migration Matrix 2013
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/
[3]World Bank - Global Findex Database 2014
http://datatopics.worldbank.org/financialinclusion/country/armenia
[4] ARKA Telecom – Mobile Subscribers 2014
http://telecom.arka.am/en/news/
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