paybox and Lari Exchange team up to provide mobile remittances between UAE and the Philippines

The total transaction value of money transfers from UAE to Philippines is estimated to be above US$1 billion per annum. The strategic partnership brings together the paybox Mobiliser Platform and Lari's experience and network in Remittances to build a Mobile Remittance Platform from the UAE to other countries.

The pilot will cover the UAE-Philippines Remittance corridor with a new Mobile Remittance Product from senders' side in the UAE - the cooperation with Globe Telecom/GCash in the Philippines will interface the beneficiary side.

Charges for the Mobile Remittance Product are expected to be significantly lower than other existing offerings to the Philippines. 'We are excited about this new partnership,' says Robert Abel, Senior VP Operations & Delivery, paybox. 'Together with Lari Exchange, we can deliver a new Mobile Remittance Product that will bring significant benefit to the mobile migrant community - first for the UAE-Philippines corridor and with more corridors to come.'

The new Mobile Remittance Product is an IVR-menu based service that enables senders to instantly transfer money to friends and family in the Philippines using just their mobile phones. To send money, customers have to top-up their accounts in one of the Lari outlets in the UAE or at any partner location.

With their mobile phone, they can then request to remit money in Dirham value to Globe Telecom customers in the Philippines, which will be converted into Pesos on the fly and immediately deposited into the beneficiaries' GCash wallet. Every money transfer is protected by a customer specified four digit PIN.

Beneficiaries can cash-out the money at any of the 6.000 Globe Telecom partner outlets in the Philippines. Lari Exchange's General Manager Fuaad Lari states: 'Taking the next step for our vision of a global mobile Remittance system, this partnership can be a breakthrough in cross-border financial services. With paybox, Lari Exchange can mobilise its worldwide Remittance business and differentiate itself strongly. We are building Remittance communities leveraging the entire functionalities of the paybox Mobiliser Platform. In addition to Remittances, we will offer mobile services such as airtime top-up or content sales on both sides of the Remittance channel - thereby expanding our network.'

paybox and Lari Exchange will be available at a 'Meet-the-expert-session' on September 9th during the GITEX 2007 in Dubai, UAE.