[Interview] Jens Ischebeck, Founder of Apps-for-money-transfer Guide, Africa & Middle East
Jens Ischebeck is an expert in fintech service providers in Africa, both global and regional. His website, Apps-for-money-transfer.com, is designed to assist anyone living or operating in the African and Middle Eastern regions to send and receive money in the most quick, efficient, and cost-efficient manner possible.
Would you please introduce your service?
Apps-for-money-transfer.com is a fintech website that dedicates itself to providing information on the safest and secure method of money transfer services at very-low-cost. It is focused on people living in African and Middle Eastern countries.
The website was re-launched in 2018 to provide updated details for money transfer apps.
Gone are the days when sending money took days, and you would be worried if it reached the intended recipient. With these apps, you can send money to your loved ones or do business transactions without worrying about the possibility of losing your money.
All you need is a similar money transfer app with the recipient. Then you click send money on your app, input details of the sender, press okay and you are good to go. It’s as easy as sending a text.
The apps give you the convenience to send money anytime and anywhere as long as you have internet connection.
When and why was it set up?
The apps-for-money-transfer.com website was originally set up in January 2016 and is now relaunched two years later. Because of my personnel experience working for many years now with African people, African companies and African projects, I wanted to provide a platform for people to learn about money transfer app, the best online money transfer providers, and offer a comparison on the top five money transfer options African and Middle East countries have.
The best five money transfer options available for the Middle East and African nations include Payoneer, Currencyfair, Azimo, TransferWise, and Worldremit.
The website carefully analyses each payment option and gives a clear outline of the appropriate method used for different aims, providers, and target groups. The target group for the website as mentioned earlier are people from Africa either working or living in Africa as an immigrant or expert.
What is your website’s unique selling point?
Many online providers charge high fees for international transfers, especially if they are between banks or from the more established services such as Western Union and Moneygram. These days, high charges are not necessary. In fact, we strive to find you the best low-cost deal: our mission statement is, “Money Transfer App Guide – send your money secure, fast and at low-cost”.
Indeed, we fully understand the problems that can arise from trying to make an international transfer from Africa or the Arabic peninsula, so it is of massive benefit to users of this app guide that these hurdles have already been overcome.
Security is of major importance and our visitors can be confident that they will receive the very best in online protection for all their personal and financial data.
We also take into account general all inclusive fees, exchange rates and app stability whilst also providing superior customer support.
Why the interest in money transfer transactions in Africa?
Secure, safe and low-cost money transfer services are the basis for the economic prosperity of many people. There are many situations and reasons where people need money transfers across borders. Especially in the huge African continent with its diversity of nations, countries, languages and cultures, online money transfers are more important than ever.
If you had to leave your country of origin and live as a refugee in the diaspora, if you work abroad as a cheap-labor worker or a management expat, if you study abroad or if you just spend you holidays in other countries, avoid paying high remittance fees. Just use money transfer apps on your phone and send the money very fast and very cheap.
Have you launched any other service websites?
Similar to the described fintech website I have launched an edtech website for and from African people. Apps-for-learning.com is about e-learning and m-learning (mobile learning). It offers a stimulating selection of the most suitable e-learning providers, their products, including online courses, making e-learning in Africa not just extremely viable, but also inspiring for those who thought m-learning was not possible in their particular situation.
The site is for everyone in Africa who wants to better themselves and to further their career, as each provider singles out its own niche market, covering all different ambitions and aims. It especially targets African students who want to improve their overall skills, those who wish to obtain that all important degree and professionals who would like to continue their education through edtech.
Who can access your services, and for what purpose?
Perhaps you are living and working in Africa or the Middle East or maybe you are an immigrant or refugee; apps-for-money-transfer.com will guide you through choosing the most suitable of five providers.
These include WorldRemit. TransferWise, Azimo, CurrencyFair and Payoneer, so instead of having to visit each individual website, you can now get all the information you need from just one, which will not only save you a lot of time, but also ensure that you select the provider that best suits your needs.
Our site will supply you with information on how to make your transfer through companies that have a strong focus on Africa and the Middle East, so you will know that your money will arrive safely, and, as you are able to use this service through an app, you can make your transfer from anywhere at any time; all you need is an internet connection.
In delivering this service, have you entered into any strategic partnerships?
As publisher of this money transfer app guide for Africa and Middle East there are affiliate partnerships with the presented providers Payoneer, WorldRemit, TransferWise, Azimo and CurrencyFair.
We made this step into entering partnerships because I believe in the quality of the offered products. It’s nice to dream about the wonderful fintech world and the resulting opportunities, but at the end we speak about real people with real needs, so as consequence we need real products to answer their needs. And with these online money transfer providers we have good answers.
For example, the money laundering restrictions in Africa dominate an essential part of the possible money exchange. But with Payoneer’s way to save fees for remittances between bank accounts there is a strong benefit.
Or CurrencyFair: you have the opportunity to define the currency exchange rate and CurrencyFair offers a way to realize this deal.
What can be expected of your services in 2018?
The new layout and structure of our apps-for-money-transfer.com website has received many positive comments from users during the past few months.
Now we want to expand the functionalities of the site by offering a blog section where we welcome your input with a guest post, especially about your experiences, news and life stories. The direct experiences of users as well as providers is essential for a fruitful exchange between both parties. With this guest post possibility we expect to make our site even more attractive for vistitors!
It will also provide useful information regarding our money transfer app, answering questions that you might have and sharing with others your experiences with regards to the leading online money transfer providers.
www.apps-for-money-transfer.com
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Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with African CEOs.
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