Paypal enters the African Market with Xoom

Original Story Published by: Quentin Velluet, www.theafricareport.com
Photo Source: The African Report

(Above) Julian King, the vice president of Paypal subsidiary Xoom.

A new competitor enters the crowded African money transfer market.

Xoom, the money transfer company bought in 2015 for $890m by the American leader in online payments, Paypal, now serves 33 African countries from about 30 European markets.

• Through partnerships with Ria Money Transfer and African banks, Xoom allows people to send money online to 150,000 withdrawal points in Africa or to transfer funds directly to bank accounts—for now the latter is only available in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
• Recipients can retrieve cash almost instantly; it can be delivered directly to their door or their phone in the form of mobile credit (this is only available 11 countries).

“We offer a safer service and a more affordable price,” says Julian King, vice- president of Xoom.

The transfer company states it costs €1.49 (or 0.3%) to send €500 from France to Morocco. TransferWise and MoneyGram charge €9 and €3.99 respectively for the same amount.

However, neither the option for bill payment nor cash delivery is available in African countries, although these services are marketed by Xoom.

A market that is competitive and dynamic

Rather than revolutionising the sector, Paypal’s subsidiary appears to be another competitive player in an already competitive and dynamic market.