Wave Money Doubled Its Transaction Volume Last Year at US$ 8.7 Billion
by Fintech News Singapore January 8, 2021Wave Money, a Myanmar-based mobile financial services provider, recorded a total of 12 trillion Myanmar kyat (US$ 8.7 billion) in transactions last year as the country rapidly embraced digital financial services in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The firm reported that the figure was doubled from 6.4 trillion kyat (US$ 4.3 billion) and is equivalent to 11.5% of Myanmar’s estimated 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 75.5 billion.
Wave Money said that last year it had over 1.5 million monthly active users (MAU) on its WavePay app and more than 3.9 million MAUs for its agent-led money transfer services.
Brad Jones
“Wave Money’s commitment to create a fairer future for Myanmar proved stronger than ever amid this year of disruption and adversity. Through all the challenges, we continue to focus on driving impact, innovation and inclusion as we provide an essential service to millions of customers, businesses, government and humanitarian organisations,”
said Brad Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Wave Money.
Of the 2020 transactions, donation and disbursements to those severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic reached 32 billion kyat (US$ 24 million), peaking during the first wave of the crisis from April to June 2020. To date, relief efforts facilitated by Wave Money have reportedly reached more than 300,000 people.
When the Myanmar government released its COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan, Wave Money announced that it would make all COVID-19 related disbursements free-of-charge to help organisations delivering aid to vulnerable sectors.
Wave Money is currently supporting 37 projects, including social security payments under the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population; loan disbursements for farmers from the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank; cash transfers to pregnant women and children under the Maternal and Child Cash Transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare.
It is also involved in the emergency funds for laid off garment workers from the Myan Ku Fund project of the European Union which is financed through the European Union’s Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus Response Mechanism managed by the United Nations Office for Project’s Services.
Wave Money also disburses donations in partnership with various corporates, individuals, and social impact organisations for the National Level Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19 under its kindness initiative “WavePay it Forward.”
