A company called Azimo has launced a new in-app feature enabling customers to instantly request, send and receive cash internationally simply using a mobile phone number.
Azimo users need only choose one of their phone contacts to send them money. Their recipient will then receive an SMS with a link to download the Azimo app and claim the money. In essence it sounds very much like Barclays’ Ping It with the big downside being that if you want to claim your cash you have to download the app.
“One of the most difficult things about sending money abroad is knowing all the details of the recipient upfront. Different countries require different information to be inputted at the time of transfer such as IBAN’s and bank routing numbers. Not everyone knows how to find that information, let alone what some of the numbers should look like”.
– Michael Kent, Co-Founder and CEO of Azimo.
As well as transferring money abroad using Azimo, you can also request money and so they say that their app makes things like splitting a restaurant bill quick and easy.
Azimo say that the offering will fundamentally change the money transfer market as customers no longer need to input tricky account details or IBAN numbers in order to send money. They point out that there are plenty of digital solutions, but say that their solution make finance mobile enabled.
Whilst it may be useful for those wondering how to send money overseas, and is definitely easier than sending cash through a money transfer service like Western Union, personally if you want to send me money feel free to use PayPal. I already have the PayPal app and an account set up, transfers from PayPal to my bank account are almost instant and like Azimo you can send money to my mobile phone number.
If however you don’t have a PayPal account (or something happens such as when the Greeks shut down PayPal for a period or PayPal pulls out of Turkey), you can download the Azimo app from Google Play or the Apple app store.
