Sri Lanka’s Ez Cash and mCash Joins Telcoin’s digital money transfer Platform to facilitate cheaper remittance transfers

Sri Lanka’s top mobile money operators (MNOs) Ez Cash and mCash has joined Telcoin, an emerging blockchain-powered fintech service provider’s digital money transfer to challenge the banking sector’s dominance in cross-border remittance transfer, Telcoin announced in a media communique.

Initially fully verified Telcoin Application users in Canada are able to send affordable and convenient remittances from their iOS or Android device.

Pending ongoing partnership integrations, Telcoin users in additional sending markets – including the United States, Singapore, and Australia – will soon be able to send money to loved ones in 27 newly launched corridors as well including Sri Lanka.

With the global average cost of sending a $200 remittance still high at 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, Telcoin is targeting just 2.5 percent or less for its contactless and compliance-focused service.

“Opening these initial corridors is an exciting and important foundational moment in Telcoin’s journey. We see this as not only about affordable remittances but as a first step toward expanding the financial opportunities of people in these new markets.” ” said Telcoin CEO Paul Neuner.

Ez Cash and mCash is owned by Sri Lanka’s top telco operators, Dialog Axiata and State-Owned SLT-Mobitel.

The vast majority of Sri Lankan expats abroad deposit their payment recipts to bank accounts given they have their own bank accounts.

A considerable number of expats take their earnings when they return to the country or Send cash with a friend or relative.

Money transfer services such as Western Union is also popular among Sri Lanka’s expats abroad. Further, a number of them also rely on informal money transfer systems such as hawala system to send money to their families and loved ones in Sri Lanka.

The Mobile payment systems have been gaining in popularity with a significant portion of Sri Lanka’s expats owning smartphones, however, it still only makes up a small portion of the over $7 billion of official remmmitance inflows into the country.

The launch of these new corridors coincides with the Telcoin Application’s V2.3 update, which introduces a new innovation to the remittance market that the company has coined “Active Beneficiary.” In a traditional remittance, the recipient of funds must communicate a preferred destination to the sender – whether they want the inbound transfer to land in their bank account, e-wallet, as cash that can be picked up at a physical agent, and so on. Telcoin is eliminating this communication step and streamlining the remittance flow by allowing the beneficiary to decide where the funds will go. The sender simply inputs an amount in local currency along with the recipient’s name and phone number. The beneficiary is then notified of the inbound transfer, and is prompted to select a destination – with fees and transfer times for each method shown transparently.

These new fiat remittance corridors pave the way for Telcoin to offer additional digital-asset backed services that will speed up transactions and lower costs even further. Telcoin’s incoming V3 update seeks to tear down barriers to the accessibility of digital assets globally and leverage user-powered markets for digital asset exchange.