Africhange, a Canada-based cross border remittance platform, has now extended its services to Ghana. As of today, Canadians who are looking to send money to Ghana for any reason whatsoever can use Africhange to facilitate their transactions and because the platform leverages blockchain technology, a low transaction fee and near-instant cash finality is guaranteed for every transaction initiated.
Africa’s remittance problem
Millions of Africans have migrated across national borders over the past few decades in search of better jobs and greener pastures. Their families back in their home nations, in most cases, depend on their loved ones abroad to send money regularly to make ends meet. Cross-border money transfers from diaspora populations, often referred to as remittances, loom large in the living standards of many low-income economies like Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya for example.
However, traditional methods and institutions used to send money across borders to Africa are plagued with two significant problems; high transaction fees and slow processing time. For example, sub-Saharan Africa, a global region that heavily relies on remittances, according to the World Bank, transfers to the region incurred an average of 8.9% in fees in 2019, compared to the global average of 6.8%. Also, transactions take an average of 10 working days before the recipient receives the funds and the issue of exchange rate becomes significant.
We are already seeing a global kickback against these traditional institutions and methods of remittances. El Salvador for example, adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender due to the problems of receiving money through traditional remittance institutions. El Salvador, a country of 6.5 million people with majority of its population between the ages of 15-64, depends heavily on remittances to sustain its economy and its people. As of 2020, remittances accounted for 24.09% of the country’s GDP. With the adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender, using the Bitcoin layer two solution, the Lightning Network, on its government-issued wallet, the people of El Salvador can now receive remittances from their loved ones abroad in the comfort of their homes.
Africhange was borne out of the need to kick against all the problems associated with traditional methods of sending cross border transactions to Africa. The major ways, through international wire transfers and traditional money transfer operators, are notoriously known for charging high fees for remittances to African nations. Some charge as much as 10% for a $200 transaction and funds often take days before they arrive at the recipients.
At the start, Africhange only allowed for transactions between Canadian citizens and Nigerians. However, due to high demand and a booming business, the platform is now available for remittances to Ghanaians.
Why use Africhange?
As previously explained, Africhange was created to fill in the gaps that exist in international remittance. The platform is able to do so by leveraging on blockchain technology to deliver a user experience that the remittance industry has never seen. Here are some of the reasons to use Africhange:
- Easy to Use: Sending Money from Canada to Nigeria Has Never been Easier
The process of getting started and making use of Africhange is stress-free and straightforward. Once you register, you automatically get instructions on the platform to guide you on what to do next and how to navigate successfully. To get started, simply follow these steps:
- Download the Africhange app from Google Play Store or Apple Store or simply visit the www.africhange.com
- Once you have installed the app or accessed the website, you input your details, including full name, email address, and password.
- Next, you go to your email to confirm your registration by clicking on the link that must have been sent to you.
- After that, you begin the KYC process by submitting a government-issued identification document.
- Once you have submitted an ID, you proceed to complete facial verification.
- After completing this process, you can start making transactions on Africhange.
Not only is the process of signing up easy, sending money to Nigeria using Africhange is pretty swift as well. Simply follow these steps:
- Type in the amount you would like to send.
- Input the details of the recipient’s bank account and their email address as well as your own name and email address.
- Once the transaction summary is generated, make sure to double-check and confirm the details are correct.
- On the next page, the Africhange Interac E-transfer payment details are displayed. Note down the email and the secret question displayed as they are necessary details needed to complete the transaction.
- Finally, complete the transaction on the web and send the money to transfer@africhange.com using Interac E-transfer on your Canadian bank app.
- Speed: Money Transfers Arrive within Minutes
Another notable advantage of using Africhange is the speed of execution you get to enjoy as a user. The platform makes this happen by using the Bitcoin network. The traditional way to transfer money is currently expensive and slow, especially for cross-border payments. Bitcoin is able to speed up the settlement time while reducing the cost.
Once you send your money in Canadian dollars, the platform converts it into bitcoin and within minutes, it is converted from bitcoin into naira and deposited safely into the recipient’s Nigerian bank account. That way, Africhange helps you save time and money.
- Safe & Secure: Send Money with a Regulatory-Compliant Money Transfer Platform
Africhange is a secure platform that is licensed to operate by the Canadian government. Also, it is regulated and audited by FINTRAC, bearing the registration number M19773759. FINTRAC is a Canadian financial unit that fights money laundering, helps to keep the safety of Canadians and also ensures digital platforms have the right security process to secure their platform.
Africhange’s KYC process also ensures the platform is protected against fraudulent people. This helps to ensure that only upright users are granted access to making transactions on the platform.
- Competitive & Transparent Exchange Rates: Receive Great CAD to Naira Rates
One other attractive benefit is the exchange rate offered on Africhange. As a user, you do not have to bother about calculating the naira equivalent of any amount you are sending. The platform does that for you. The exchange rate and receivable amount are displayed on the Africhange dashboard before you perform a transfer.
Africhange uses bitcoin as a payment rail in the back-end of all transactions, which makes it possible to offer better exchange rates than other digital money transfer platforms.
- Make Transfers On-the-Go: The Africhange Mobile App Allows You to Send Money to Nigeria from Anywhere
Africhange provides comfort and flexibility with its new mobile app. Available on the Google Play Store and Apple store, you can download the app and set up an account within minutes. You can now perform all your transactions on the mobile app.
You can use the app wherever you are to send money to Nigeria. With the app, you can send money within minutes and with the best exchange rate to your friends and family in Nigeria. The Africhange app will also soon be available for iOS.
- Zero Commissions: Africhange Does Not Charge A Money Transfer Fee
With Africhange, what you see is what you get. There are no hidden charges. Any transfer you make on the platform incurs zero transaction fees. This is a great advantage, especially considering the speed of sending money using Africhange.
Other platforms typically charge a fee, and settlement times can be up to one week. With Africhange, you enjoy zero commission, money settlement within minutes, and transparency with exchange rates.
- By Nigerians for Nigerians: Africhange Knows What Nigerians Need
Africhange is an online remittance platform that was created specifically to solve cross-border problems for Nigerians. The Nigerian team behind Africhange understands the issues many people face when sending money to Nigeria.
Whether you are a Nigerian in Canada who wants to send money to his relatives back home or you are a Nigerian in Nigeria who needs to receive money from a relative in Canada, Africhange was built to make that happen in the easiest way possible.
The future of Africhange
The latest data from the Nigerian Central Bank reveals that there has been a drop of 23.93% in remittance inflows when comparing data of Q1 2021 against Q1 2020. This could be due to a shift in Nigerians using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to send money cross border. Nigeria is one of the leaders in Africa when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption and its underlining technology, the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has shown itself to be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to cross border transactions.
In an email interview with a spokesperson at Africhange, when asked if there were concerns about cryptocurrencies taking over their target market, the spokesperson has this to say: “ I don’t know that the drop in remittance inflow is due to the increase in the adoption of cryptocurrencies. However, we run a remittance platform that leverages blockchain technology and cryptocurrency to provide users a seamless way to send money to Nigeria and Ghana from Canada at low cost compared to traditional remittance methods and faster speed. We have no reason to be worried. As a matter of fact, we hope that more and more people understand the economic value of crypto adoption and how the average person can benefit from it.”
The spokesperson also explained that the platform is also looking to extend its services to even more countries like Kenya, Senegal and the United States and also plans to add more exciting features to products in the coming months.
