Beirut: Whish Money has partnered with Mastercard to facilitate inbound and outbound remittance flows for consumers in Lebanon. This collaboration allows people in Lebanon to send money abroad to more than 50 countries while enabling Lebanese living overseas to send money back home. The partnership utilizes Mastercard Move's money movement solutions and its extensive global network to offer a service that enables millions of Lebanese worldwide to conduct faster, safer, and near real-time money transfers through Whish Money.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, with this collaboration, Whish Money users in Lebanon can now send money cost-effectively through the Whish Money mobile application to over 50 countries in near real-time. Depending on the receiving market, senders can choose how beneficiaries receive the funds, whether into their bank accounts, mobile wallets, or by cash. Additionally, Lebanese senders now have the option of using their cards to fund their Whish Money wallet, along with using cash. This marks Mastercard's first collaboration with a mobile wallet in Lebanon to facilitate remittances.
Many people in Lebanon depend on remittances from family members abroad to meet their basic needs. In the current challenging economic climate, international money transfer services provide a crucial inflow of foreign currency into Lebanon. Mastercard Move's involvement enables Whish Money to offer fast, efficient, and secure remittances to Lebanese people, said Toufic Koussa, Co-founder and CEO of Whish Money.
Onur Kursun, Executive Vice President, Commercial and New Payment Flows, EEMEA, Mastercard, stated that the collaboration would provide Whish Money with the reach, transparency, and speed needed to scale its cross-border business and address consumer demand for sending and receiving funds internationally. This initiative will allow Mastercard to expand its payment network and introduce market firsts for inbound and outbound money transfers in Lebanon, ultimately improving the lives of Lebanese people.
Estimates by the World Bank indicate that Lebanon was the third country in the MENA region regarding the absolute size of remittance inflows in 2022, with an estimated US$6.4 billion, following Egypt (US$28.3 billion) and Morocco (US$11.2 billion).
Mastercard Move, part of Mastercard's money movement solutions portfolio, enables people and organizations to move money quickly and safely, both domestically and internationally. The portfolio reaches 200 markets and over 150 currencies, with access to more than 95% of the world's banked population.