UAE-based money transfer app ‘Remitr’ has carved out its place in MENA’s (Middle East and North Africa) business landscape by championing small business successes through its agile, convenient, and accessible financial services.
In today’s episode of the ‘Start-up of the Week’, International Finance will talk about ‘Remitr’ in detail, which is creating a competitive advantage for its customers by providing equitable access to financial services.
‘Remitr’ claims to have solutions that instil trust and accelerate business growth for its clients by reducing friction, increasing speed and lowering costs.
Knowing The Company In Detail
Talking about ‘Remitr’ founders, Kanchan Kumar is known as a seasoned change-maker in the field of software technology. Remitr is his third venture, as his previous start-ups are now focusing on enterprise solutions across areas like accounting and human resources. Kanchan is also known as an influencer in the world of fintech and start-up ecosystem.
‘Remitr’ co-founder Sandeep Todi too is a software development veteran, with specific expertise in the field of financial products. Kanchan and Sandeep, back in 1990s, met back in 1990, and worked on building accounting software, which was one of the first software products to be built in India.
Having been small business owners themselves, Kanchan and Sandeep understood the ecosystem well, which often faces the problem of making business payments through traditional banking methods.
The answer to the crisis was ‘Remitr’, through which investors are now pioneering entrepreneurs and trailblazers in payments, e-commerce, healthcare, financial services, consumer startups and more from across North America, Europe and Asia. These investors include FreeCharge and Cred founder Kunal Shah, PayTm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Nasr-Eddine Benaissa, Chief Sales Director of Swiss luxury watchmaker Breitling.
Small business owners, manufacturers, e-commerce stores, accounting firms, software as a service companies, payroll managers, travel agencies, name any sector of the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) economy, Remitr’s tailored growth-oriented payment solutions are there to help its clients out.
All these businesses need to do is create their free accounts with Remitr and provide details like bank account numbers, email IDs and other contact details. After that, the startup does the rest by giving these ventures better business payment solutions, which in turn, uses funding options like direct debit, ledger transfer and electronic money transfer to get the business payment done in a smooth and fast manner.
How Remitr Solutions Work?
Take Remitr’s Canada operations for example. Through the platform, the client ventures can pay their staff, suppliers and vendors in a ‘same-day’/’1-2 day’ format for a fee of USD 1. The process doesn’t involve things like monthly charges and wire fees, thereby making the solution budget-friendly for SMEs. Remitr’s ‘Local Payment’ solution supports funding methods like direct debit, pre-funded through Ledger and electronic money transfer.
Remitr also helps its client SMEs to send payments to their suppliers, freelancers and overseas staff in just one to two business days.
“The vast majority of international payments on the Remitr platform can be made for just USD 5. Simply initiate the payment and leave the rest to us. No more cheques, no more delayed payments, no more bank visits,” the venture remarked, while adding that its international payment solutions work in over 150 countries.
When it comes to international payments, Remitr distinguishes itself from traditional bank wires by ensuring low fees (USD 5). Also while normal bank wire money transfers take up to five business days, Remitr cuts it down to just one business day.
Talking about Remitr’s ‘Global Business Account’, the beneficiary gets personalized, virtual bank accounts in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, apart from receiving payments in Dollars, Pounds and Euros without the delays and bank fees.
Remitr has also tied up with global financial giants Stripe, PayPal, Amazon and Shopify for the above service, due to which the money transfer between the accounts takes only one day.
In fact, Remitr’s ‘Global Business Account’ comes with no recurring and receiving fees, while the foreign currency transaction fee structure helps a client save up to 2% during currency conversions.
Remitr also provides API (Application Program Interface) services, which ensures that clients have the control of making international payments directly from their existing software. The API brings a high level of automation into the client’s accounting/ERP/payables systems.
The API, apart from preventing operational risks like errors in manual data entry, also enables timely payments to overseas suppliers and vendors, apart from eliminating the need to export data from the client’s digital accounting system, and then importing it into the venture’s banking/payment system.
Remitr API is tailored for areas like mass payments, payroll payments, marketplaces and co-branding initiatives.
Taking Ties With Customers Beyond Payments
Remitr is now partnering with its partners to offer the client SMEs value-added services beyond payments.
One such is ‘Openphone’, which is a modern phone for small businesses and start-ups.
“Direct numbers for your sales representatives, shared lines for support teams, call recording or auto replies – OpenPhone does it all! Sign up with Remitr and get 20% off for 6 months on monthly or annual plans! Can be combined with existing annual discounts,” Remitr stated.
Another such service is Bookmark, an easy-to-use website builder for small businesses, which comes with a simple drag-and-drop technology. The solution helps the clients create a professional website without breaking their heads on coding/design fronts.
Remitr is also helping business leaders find transformative solutions by providing affordable access to world-class consultants.