Wave Money reports 1.1 million monthly active users of WavePay

By Edil Corneille

Wave Money has announced that it has set a new record as its WavePay application crossed 1.1 million monthly active users in October. With a remittance value reaching 8 trillion Myanmar Kyat (US$ 5.9 billion) from January to September 2020, the mobile financial services provider in Myanmar posted a daily average growth of 162 per cent in new WavePay registrations in comparison to January 2020.

Reported in accordance with the internationally-recognised metrics of the GSM Association (GSMA), Wave Money reflects the strong market opportunity and rapid adoption of mobile money in Myanmar.

“This is a very exciting milestone because it’s a positive indicator not only of our performance but the health of the industry as a whole and how people are embracing digital. In line with our vision of creating a fairer future for Myanmar, we couldn’t be happier knowing that mobile money is now a big part of their daily lives,” said Brad Jones, CEO of Wave Money.

Wave Money paid more than 62 billion Myanmar Kyat (US$46 million) in commissions to agents from January to September 2020.

“Although COVID-19 has no doubt heightened our digital dependence this year, the digital lifestyle is definitely here to stay. Mobile money usage will continue to rapidly rise even post-pandemic as the people are enjoying the many benefits – convenient, secure and safe cash remittances, quick and easy payment, and access to a wide range financial services particularly among the unbanked. In Myanmar greater financial inclusion has changed the lives of millions, including thousands of agents nationwide,” Jones added.

Disbursements from the government and NGO sectors represented a substantial share of the total remittance value in 2020, driven largely by COVID-19 relief funds. As of the end of September, Wave Money transferred more than 17 billion Myanmar Kyat (US$13 million) as payment partner of governments and NGOs. It has committed to waiving all service fees for the disbursement of funds to those hard-hit by the pandemic for the duration of the crisis. Since March, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people including garment workers, civil servants, and farmers, have been digitally receiving emergency funds using WavePay.