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One of the biggest innovations to jolt personal finance on a global scale has been Send App, the remittance service pioneered by Flutterwave.
The easy-to-use application has already led to a transformation for millions of people in Africa, and its influence is growing. Consider this: In 2023 alone, more than $90 billion worth of money was transferred to Africa in the form of remittances (money sent by overseas workers back to family or friends). That’s twice the amount the continent receives from foreign governments in development assistance.
The rural populations of many African nations depend on remittances to help feed children, pay for school, fund medical procedures, and pull families out of extreme poverty. And Send App by Flutterwave is one of the most popular and trusted methods for remittances services.
That’s no accident. Send App is the product of a very deliberate development and improvement process by Flutterwave. Although successful from the start, it was the rebuilding and rebranding of the service that has led to widespread global adoption, said Owuraku Ohene Ampadu-Kissi, Flutterwave’s senior manager, consumer marketing.
“At the heart of it all, sending money is about more than just transactions; it’s a deeply personal act. Whether it’s for bills, school fees, family upkeep, or building projects, each transaction represents a connection, a tribute to home, a reminder of the ties that bind us. This realization shaped the foundations of Send App, and today, it fuels our transformation into something even more attuned to your needs.”
Flutterwave: The Origin Story
Flutterwave began in 2016 as a startup aimed at helping enterprise companies grow in Africa. The idea came to founder Olugbenga “GB” Agboola after he saw the trouble that companies were having dealing with the complex patchwork of financial regulations that spanned the continent.
His solution was to create an e-payments platform that would handle all the financial rules and regulations, freeing up companies to concentrate on expanding their operations on the ground. The simple idea proved to be revolutionary. The fintech startup quickly attracted big-name partners, like Uber, and began to spread its service across the continent.
“When we were starting Flutterwave, a major core thesis has always been about making Africa feel like a country. It’s not a country when it comes to … let’s make it feel like one in Flutterwave,” he said on “The Flip” podcast. “And we invested a lot in that philosophy because we believe so much in the fact that payments should be simple in Africa. Payments is extremely broken in Africa, but it can be simple in Africa. And that obviously meant a lot of expansion that people did not even imagine possible.
“We’re the largest payment network today in Africa, we have the most licenses in Africa today, we have the most reach in Africa today. But imagine what we require to do that, it’s a lot of work, a lot of expansion, infrastructure initiative, playbooks built, tried, tested, we used, discarded if it doesn’t work. So many of that was done, and I think we’ve learned both the good and the hard way that that thesis makes sense.”
But as the fintech company grew, so too did its ambitions. Agboola and his team realized their platform could be used to benefit Africans in more ways. Remittance services were a natural place to start.
“For many, sending money is a way to recreate the feeling of being home, even when miles away,” Ampadu-Kissi said. “By sending money back home, we can feel connected to the people we care about and the community we feel departed from. It is a way to keep a sense of home and normalcy in our lives, even in the face of change.
“It is a way to bridge the distance and strengthen the ties that bind. It is an act of nostalgia and a reminder of the power of home. This is why we built a product to provide a fast, transparent and secure way to bridge the distance and strengthen the bonds with home.”
Naturally, the company turned toward remittances.
Building an App
Flutterwave’s first foray into a remittance service was called Send. It was essentially a remittance app aimed at African consumers that allowed them to easily, securely, and inexpensively transfer money back home to family and friends.
But soon after its launch, the Flutterwave team realized it could be better. The only question was how.
The answer came from a thorough consideration of the customers. While Flutterwave’s original products were aimed at large, multinational corporations that valued efficiency and value, Send App needed to appeal to a different kind of consumer. For many members of the target market, digital money wasn’t something that felt comfortable
“In redesigning Send App, we went for motion and beauty. I have seen a lot of well-meaning people ask why we would go the maximalist approach for a money transfer app,” Agboola said. “Well, look at the cultures in Africa. Are they minimalist or maximalist? Have you seen a Nigerian traditional wedding? How about a Zulu or Xhosa wedding? Have you seen a Ghanaian wedding? The colors, the poise, the pageantry? So, it made sense to me when the design team came with this direction: Let’s build something that truly represents us, our cultures, and our enthusiasm.”
A Global Success
With the redesign and rebranding came a greater push toward global access. When Send App was upgraded and improved, it coincided with the product’s launch in the United States and Canada (it was already in Europe and many African countries ).
Today, Send App relies on its history of winning customer service, such as its promise to never charge hidden fees, as well as its record of security and ease of use to continue winning new users across the globe.
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