Remitee was founded four years ago by two entrepreneurs from Argentina. Now it seeks to captivate a large proportion of the two million Latin American population living in Spain.
Remitee was created four years ago in Argentina with the support of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer a solution to Latin American emigrants, making digital financial services accessible to unbanked people.
The app allows people to send money from and to different countries, as well as make bill payments and phone top-ups from Argentina for people living abroad.
This year, more than 15,000 customers made transactions and more than 65,000 received money from abroad. At the peak of the pandemic, these operations increased by more than 300%. Moreover, phone top-ups from Argentina to other countries increased by more than 400% and there was a 500% increase in bill payments in the country.
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that there are 250,000 people from Argentina and more than two million people from Latin America living in Spain, which encouraged Remitee to start operating in Madrid this month, focusing mainly on Latin American people who emigrated to Europe. The company expects to have 500,000 customers in Spain in the short term.
“In the first years, we focused on expanding our services into 16 countries. However, when we offered our services in Argentina, we realized that unbanked or underbanked sellers, self-employed workers and service providers saw Remitee as an opportunity to make and receive payments at prices much lower than those charged by other providers of the service,” says Nicolás Zamudio, CFO and co-founder of Remitee. “We also noticed that people from Argentina and other countries who live abroad need to send money to Argentina,” he adds.
Why Is It Used For?
You can use the app on your mobile phone in an easy and secure way, without the need to have a bank account or go to an office. It can be used anywhere, every day and at any time. By using Remitee, you will be able to send money, receive cash or a direct deposit in a bank account (within minutes), pay bills, send mobile top-ups from Argentina to other countries, send gift cards (for example, for supermarkets), and pay for products that are delivered in other country.
“Covid-19 showed the need for inclusive financial services that allow the economy to be revived from the bottom of the pyramid. Remitee provides a secure service to send different types of family aid using technology. In the last years, the app has processed more than 130,000 transactions,” say the leaders of Remitee, the Argentine company headed and founded by Sergio Saravia that won the Acelerar España award.