Waya – a financial technology company that enables Africans and immigrants to easily access banking services and affordably transfer money across borders – has announced the upcoming launch of its full service digital bank and money transfer app that will focus on the African diaspora.

The Waya App will be available in the App and Play Stores on September 16 for early adopters and available to the public from October 1.

What the Waya App does:

The Waya App will allow users to

Open bank accounts digitally, and
Within minutes, send money to other Waya users for free,
Spend using their Waya cards linked to their Waya account and
To remit money to over 10 countries in Africa.
Remittances will be delivered to Mobile wallets and bank accounts across Africa.

Waya also allows users to make domestic bank transfers within the USA to pay others or pay bills in the countries where they live and work. Waya also plans to provide other financial services like credit, savings account and investment opportunities for immigrants, to enable them to be more financially secure and financially included in the countries where they work and live.

“Waya’s mission is to unlock financial barriers, provide unlimited financial access and opportunities for millions of African immigrants living and working outside their home countries”, said Dr David Wachira, an Ex World Bank Finance Specialist, and now Co-founder and COO of Waya.

He further highlighted the opportunity of offering banking and remittance services to the millions of immigrants that contribute over $1.3trillion to the USA economy annually. “The African Diaspora send over $50 billion dollars back home every year and lose upto $3B in hidden fees and high FX rates when sending money back home. We not only want to help them move money back home in a faster, cheaper and affordable way but want to enable them to also store, spend and transact the over 80% of their income that remains in the countries where they live and work” Dr Wachira added.

Mr Fred Ndavi, The Chief Impact & Strategy Officer noted that Waya supports 8 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable development goals and seeks to drive more financial inclusion to the immigrant communities in the USA, many who are unbanked, under banked and often underserved by existing banking channels.

“For many African Immigrants living and working in the USA and other parts of the world, opening a bank account is often marred with a myriad of roadblocks and constraints, while sending money remains the most expensive and inefficient financial process for any immigrant. We don’t think this is fair” Mr Ndavi said in a statement.

“Mobile Money is one of the biggest African success stories. Waya wants to bring the convenience of transacting on mobile money to banking in the USA enabling users to transact with each other while enabling the diaspora to send money to Africa in a fast convenient and affordable way” noted MR Hempstone Maroria, the Co-founder & CEO who further added that 1 in 9 people globally are supported by remittances.

“The launch of Waya is a fond revelation that we can offer solutions to our own problems as the diaspora, and contribute positively to the growth and financial empowerment of our people” concluded Dr David Wachira.