#Headlines

Wave: Africa's largest digital remittance makes waves in Gambia

Apr 27, 2023, 12:52 PM | Article By: Pa Modou Cham

Wave, an internationally acclaimed mobile money service provider, has become the fastest-growing mobile wallet in The Gambia as it continues to take advantage of and bask in its easy-to-use service with a send rate of 1%, unlike others that charge a 5% send rate.

Wave Mobile Wallet has proven to be more efficient and effective in modern mobile money business, especially in a country where the majority of people use physical cash for transactions. 

 

Wave, an American financial institution with subsidiaries in Senegal, Mali, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo is founded by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk. Wave is focus on building mobile money service that is easy to use and is radically affordable which makes it one of the biggest mobile wallets operating in these aforementioned countries. Wave’s vision of a modern financial network is simple: No account fees, instantly available and accepted everywhere. Within a year that it has pitched tent in The Gambia, the innovative and people-friendly company has planted its operations in various parts of the country to avail customers the opportunity to deposit and withdraw cash at any of its agents in the communities as well as to pay bills for free digitally using the Wave App. This will complement Government attain its financial inclusion agenda where 80 percent of adults in the country don’t have access to financial services.

 

Wave operations are believed to be welcomed by many citizens and businesses, whose primary mandate and mindset is to see The Gambia grow with lots of players in the productive sector of the economy. Wave Mobile Money provides an app-based financial solution to save, transfer, and borrow money. This is done in the simplest way and easy to understand unlike the apps used by some other players in the market.

 

Wave Gambia obtained its licence in November 2021 but started its operations in September 2022 as operations were delayed pending approval from BCEAO to launch the outbound Cross Border Transfers to Senegal. Having said that, Wave has submitted application to BCEAO for the inbound from Senegal to also be available.  Its operations were delayed for some reasons that could give them the opportunity to involve in cross-border transfers. This is all geared towards national development and the quest to make lives easy for Gambians to easily make cashless transactions.

 

On its contribution to the country’s economy, Wave is boosting the local bank partners’ deposits mobilization scheme by linking the unbanked population to the banks as cash collected by agents are deposited into bank accounts. They can save the government money from printing cashing which they have attained by making Senegal cashless. Wave has employed over 200 Gambians and has boosted the livelihood of the agents working with them. These employees are mostly graduates from the University and other institutions who are spread in every region of the country, visiting remote villages in order to give equal opportunity to Gambians irrespective of their education, wealth or location.

 

Wave is a godsend that has come to boost the country’s economy by employing young people to take charge of their country’s development. These young people working with Wave Gambia are privileged to have medical insurance. It is important to note that Wave does not only employ young people in the country, but it also educates over 4,000 Gambians daily on financial literacy.

 

This is motivated by the dream of making The Gambia a cashless country in the near future. This dream has been achieved in many countries within the sub-region.  

 

It’s important for Gambians to note that Wave is never the reason for the Dalasi depreciating against the CFA; instead it has come to invest huge amounts of money to support the economy. Anybody who understands economics will know that Wave doesn’t have the capacity to affect the country’s currency or economy. Wave has so far been operating over 1,000 outlets in the country while partnering with bureaus, businesses and corner shops.

 

Wave is currently selling cash power on its App for free; this is the first of its kind despite having players in the cash power business. Within a short period, Wave has paid over D5 million as revenue, given over D20 million in overdrafts and paid bonuses to its agents across the country.

 

Some good things to know about Wave mobile wallet are that the App is convenient, easy and quick, easily accessible, and well secured.

 

Furthermore, Wave mobile wallet has wide range of uses, never misses making a payment, and gives discounts and offers.  

 

In a country where over half of the population has no bank accounts, Wave is building the first modern financial network with no account fees, instantly available and acceptable everywhere.

 

Wave, an optimum service provider in The Gambia, is using modern technology to build a radically inclusive and extremely affordable financial network.