Todd NesnickPaysafe has an eCash solution called Paysafecash, which allows people to move money digitally. On the other hand, Rewire has a program where they want to offer financial services to migrants all over 17 European countries.
These migrants are cash-reliant, which means they are unbanked. They cannot establish or open bank accounts because they are not citizens. They cannot apply for a credit card; they cannot use money transfers or debit cards because they cannot open a bank account. They cannot do online shopping or play online casino games because they do not have digital financial systems.
Rewire is a cross-border financial services company or platform. They offer a means for people to transact financially in the digital world across several countries. Their program is unique, as they cater mostly to migrants. Rewire’s patrons are from developing countries, such as Asia and Africa. Rewire partners with Paysafe in a bid to enable migrants in the UK and Europe to transact money.
What the Program Includes
What Rewire is trying to promote is inclusion. Many migrants in Europe cannot use financial services to transact to and from their country of origin. With Rewire, the plan is to enable them to:
- Do remittance
- Create local payment accounts
- Use debit cards
- Have cross-border family accounts
- Get insurances
- Pay bills
Paysafe’s eCash will enable the customers of Rewire to deposit cash into their online accounts. From their online account, they can make online transactions. Then, their loved ones can convert the digital cash into fiat or physical cash.
To do this, Paysafe and Rewire integrated some of their systems. The service is now available in 16 European countries. Global migration has a trend where the population of migrants is growing at a fast pace. They are also growing faster than the local population. Each year, the number of people who migrate to countries is higher than the number of births of the locals.
The world’s population is changing. It shifts from one developing country to the next. Those who belong to developing countries move to other locations in search of a greener pasture. Migrants are hard workers, but certain laws prevent them from using a country’s financial system. They rely on cash. In a world where transactions are mostly digital, these migrants are left behind.
It is estimated that there are two billion people who are still unbanked—they have no credit cards, they have no bank accounts, and they cannot use online facilities. Because of this, Rewire and Paysafe saw the need and the opportunity to cater to these people. The vision is to create a system that is inclusive. The financial system will serve not only banked people but also migrants who are unbanked.
How to Convert Cash into a Digital Asset
Although Paysafe is a “physical world” financial institution, it converts cash into a digital asset that a person can use. The way it works is you must buy a Paysafe voucher—you have the choice to buy it in several denominations. For example, you can buy a £10 voucher for a physical Paysafe location. What you get is a voucher that has a 16-digit code. That code functions as a debit or credit card number with money in it. Online, you can use that PIN to pay for a purchase—similar to how you make a payment using a real credit card.
Today, there are more than 200,000 Paysafe locations in more than 30 countries in the world. In Europe, there are about 90,000 locations. Given this number, migrants can easily find a Paysafe kiosk and get a voucher. Then, the migrant can use this voucher to make a deposit to his Rewire account online.
The other option is to go to the Rewire account and then select Paysafe as the mode of deposit. This creates a unique barcode that the person can show in a Paysafe location. The Paysafe clerk will scan the barcode, and the person has to pay. Once the transaction is over, the Rewire account will have the funds. The transfer is immediate, and since the money is now in Rewire, the person can access it via mobile and then send remittances.
According to Guy Kashtan, the founder and CEO of Rewire, partnering with Paysafe was a perfect solution. It makes sense, as Rewire’s customers are the unbanked who want to use financial services digitally.
Instead of building a new platform, Paysafe’s system is ready to support Rewire’s goals. The Rewire program or app makes digital financial transactions easier. Paysafe has a global network, and it makes the company an ideal partner for Rewire to make its vision come to fruition.
Furthermore, the CEO said that the goal is to make the transactions fair by having reasonable fees without compromising the integrity and service of the company. On the other hand, the CEO of Paysafe expressed that they are pleased to have the partnership with Rewire, as it allows Paysafe to leverage its systems to help support migrant workers. They are happy with this partnership. Participating in financial transactions is now possible for the many unbanked people in Europe.