Lebara Money will provide its customers with a range of financial services and products designed specifically to support the needs of the UK’s growing migrant communities. The first product, the Lebara Prepaid MasterCard, started its roll-out across the country on March 21.
The Lebara Prepaid MasterCard, developed in conjunction with MasterCard and Newcastle Building Society, will offer customers a speedy and extremely competitive international and domestic money sharing service through the most trusted brands in the global remittance industry. MasterCard is the leader in the global payments industry, processing more than 23 billion payments a year.
Ratheesan Yoganathan, CEO of Lebara said of the move: “Lebara made making calls home easy, efficient and affordable. We want to offer customers the same high level of service and peace of mind when they send their hard earned money home. Working with NBS and MasterCard will ensure that this is exactly what they get at all times.”
The global remittance industry is one of the few sectors that has defied the current recession and is estimated to be worth £500 billion globally. The UK is one of the top 10 remittance-originating countries worldwide, with approximately £2.4 billion recorded outward remittances annually from the UK to the developing world.
The new Lebara Prepaid MasterCard will be targeted at key payment destination countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, the Philippines, China and eastern Europe.
The Lebara Prepaid MasterCard will offer customers a two-card facility allowing the sender and receiver greater control and security, money loading, card-to-card sending and withdrawals. The money is simply loaded onto the UK based card and then moved to the beneficiary’s pre-paid debit card so they can use the money instantly by just swiping at the vendor's point of sale or getting cash from any ATM displaying the MasterCard Acceptance Mark.
The entry point for customers is a simple £14.90 to purchase the two linked cards, with transparent fees and charges. The Lebara Prepaid MasterCard also allows customers that have no direct access to a bank account in the UK to take advantage of the service through direct payment and cash loading at over 30,000 Paypoints and Post Office branches across the country.
Yoganathan ends: “For Lebara, communication is not just about connecting people on the phone. Our customers connect with their family and friends in their home country in many ways, and sending money home to their families is one of the most important reasons for them being in the UK. Introducing financial services was the natural next step in our commitment to provide them with a complete communications solution.”