A South African company has shone on the global stage, Hello Paisa, the international money transfer offering from the Hello Group has been recognised through winning the MasterCard Foundation ‘Clients at the Centre’ award, and with it, a substantial $150 000 prize to be used to further achieve “financial inclusion” and “client centricity”.

Securing the award, is an honour in itself, as it is awarded to the worlds most impactful and sustainable financial service providers that put “clients at the centre”. Through a gruelling 4 month process Hello Paisa and two other finalists were selected for the Award. At the annualMasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion, which was held on 20-21 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda a 300 strong audience voted for the Company that they thought had made the biggest impact, with Hello Paisa emerging triumphant.

“Recognition does not get any better than this,” says Ahmed Cassim, Managing Director of Hello Paisa. “Being the company voted the world’s most impactful and sustainable financial service provider that puts ‘clients at the centre’, is an honour in itself.”

This achievement follows on from Hello Paisa having won the Swift Innotribe Africa Startup Challenge earlier this year, and being asked to present at the prestigious Sibos forum, the annual business event for the global financial community, held in Geneva, Switzerland at the end of September 2016.

Winning that matters

The prize comes with some poignancy, as it is intended to reflect the MasterCard Foundation’s belief that banks and financial service providers in developing countries should focus on the needs and expectations of people living in poverty. More particularly, the MasterCard Foundation looks for providers that put impoverished clients at the centre of the design of new financial products and services, while bringing underserved people into the formal banking system.

The end goal is that of enabling the poor to improve their livelihoods and enhance their ability to plan for their future. It is a vision that Hello Paisa is in alignment with, as its mobile money solution provides a low-cost international money transfer solution for remittances. This particularly caters to foreign workers, who need to send money home to support their families.

Prosperity for all

“Hello Paisa has shown, and the audience agreed, that we can only achieve full universal financial inclusion if financial service providers truly understand the context and needs of the people that they serve,” commented Ann Miles, director of financial inclusion and youth livelihoods at the MasterCard Foundation.

“Hello Paisa is doing just that. It understands that in order to provide for financially underserved communities, their clients must be at the very centre of all of their efforts,” she concluded.