UBA launches intra-African money transfer service
The cash transfer targets businesspeople, traders, migrants, tourists, parents, students and expatriates operating in Africa and multilateral agencies. Photo/FILE
United Bank for Africa (UBA) on Friday launched a money transfer service, Africash, as it seeks to tap into the growing interaction between African countries.
The bank also launched a trade financing service Afritrade in Nairobi. AfriCash will allow funds to be received and sent from and to any of the countries the bank operates in, a maximum of $10,000 per transaction (Sh800,000).
“We aim to support the increasing trade, tourism and travel activities across Africa,” Mr Manz Denga, UBA Kenya managing director, said during the launch at a Nairobi hotel.
UBA has its roots in Nigeria and has operations in 16 countries in Africa.
The cash transfer targets businesspeople, traders, migrants, tourists, parents, students and expatriates operating in Africa and multilateral agencies.
UBA plans to use the trade finance product to strengthen its position in African trade, by routing transactions in the continent’s network, enabling merchants to bypass any foreign correspondent bank.
But documentation requirements are as per exchange control regulation in each country, and payment methods include Letters of Credit, bills for collection, export and transfers in line with exchange regulations of each country.
“This is a big improvement from the current situation where transactions originating and terminating in Africa are sent to banks In Europe and America for approval and transmission,” he said.
