Ghana
has been put on the map again by PayAngel at the just ended Innovations in
Payments and Remittances (IPR) Awards 2022 in London.
PayAngel, Africa’s payment experts fended off
TerraPay and MFS Africa, two of the biggest FinTechs in the payments and
remittance space, to emerge victors in the Social Impact Award category.
The Innovations in Payments and Remittances (IPR)
Awards is a celebration of the money transfer community and the achievements of
the industry’s greatest achievers. It recognises exceptional leadership and
innovations by Money Transfer Operators (MTOs), FinTechs, Banks and Telcos in
the demonstration of significant contribution to the Money transfer industry
within the past five years.
The Social Impact Award was opened to all money
service businesses that successfully embedded social objectives into their
strategy and are making a substantial positive impact in financial inclusion or
financial know how of the customers.
The shortlisted finalists in the category were MFS
Africa, TerraPay and PayAngel.
PayAngel was adjudged the eventual winners for the
category for its innovations and contributions to the money transfer industry
over the period.
The Head of Growth at PayAngel, Joseph Elvis
Lamptey emphasised the company’s commitment to creating a positive impact
through financial inclusion and payment innovations.
“Our social impact has not only been recognised by
the IPR Awards but has also been recognised by the United Nations Capital
Development Fund (UNCDF) and European Union Trust Fund under the GrEEn Project,
awarding PayAngel a grant of $140,000 to promote financial inclusion, create a
wide network of entrepreneurs and facilitate access to financial services to
the youth, women and returning migrants in the Ashanti and Western Regions
through PayAngel’s Direct to Merchant Remittances (D2MR) solution,” he stated.
PayAngel provides cross border payments which enables immigrants to participate
in shaping the digital economic expansion of their home countries whilst
positioning local businesses to capitalise on the cross-border commerce growth.
The CEO of PayInc Group, Jones Amegbor, in his comments about the award said,
“we are thrilled to receive this award as proof of our socially responsive
impact on the wellbeing of individuals who use our global multi-currency
platform to send and receive international payments.”
He added that although PayAngel did not expect to win because of the size of
companies they were up against, he is not surprised they won because by design
PayAngel is built by Africans for Africans to alleviate the social problems
Africans face at household, community, and national levels.
“We are absolutely committed to using our resources and talents to make
positive changes within our communities. It’s a must and a duty and we owe it
to ourselves and the generations after us. Coincidentally, our goals are in
alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of reducing inequalities,
poverty, and gender inequality whilst promoting decent work and economic growth
as well as access to quality healthcare and education,” Jones Amegbor said.
This award is a confirmation that PayAngel is living up to its stated
objectives. Over the years, the company has been instrumental in driving down
the cost of remittances to Africa. From the start, the company committed to the
UN SDG target with a promise to reduce transaction cost of remittances to less
than 3%.
In echoes of the founding father of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the founder of
PayAngel has been quoted as saying “we want the reduction in cost now, not in
some distant future as suggested by the UN”. The company offers its customers
the luxury of remitting at zero fees with highly competitive exchange rates.
In addition, as an industry first, PayAngel through its insurance partner,
offers a unique value-added service – RemitCare; a life insurance solution to
beneficiaries of its remittance service in Ghana. The innovations the
company is driving in the industry and the impact on the lives of ordinary
people within the community makes PayAngel a deserving winner of the Social
Impact Award.
Source: Peacefmonline