Rwandans can now send money to more than 21 countries in Africa and the United States direct to mobile money and bank accounts, thanks in large part to the launch of African cross border fintech startup Chipper Cash.

The development was announced on the sidelines of the ongoing Inclusive Fintech Forum, which is taking place in Kigali.

ALSO READ: The growth and opportunities of fintech in Rwanda

Currently, the firm says it serves more than five million customers across Africa.

Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire hailed the launch, citing that it was part of a series of attempts that proves Africa’s commitment to revolutionizing the way people transact and connect in the digital age.

"The launch is not only a momentous occasion for chipper cash, but also it is in perfect alignment with Rwanda&039;s vision to protect, to promote FinTech innovation and investments.”

"We share the same vision to spur economic growth through technology, innovation and citizen empowerment. Chipper Cash's commitment to bridging the gap and promoting easy access to financial services aligns with our objectives by introducing their user-friendly and innovative mobile application.”

According to Ingabire, chipper cash has offered an easy way for money to be moved across borders, connecting most Africans and empowering them to send and receive funds seamlessly.

"Expansion to Rwanda is also very much an alignment with the African Continental Free Trade Area, which seeks to eliminate barriers to trading across borders and trading within Africa.”

"And so by enabling the secure cross-border transactions, chipper cash is contributing to this objective. It is through this collaboration of innovative technology with companies like chipper cash, we can deliver on our ambitions and accelerate growth and prosperity for the entire continent.”

In the past, traditional banks have led the cross-border payments market, but the traditional system, experts argue, has shortcomings.

ALSO READ: New WB report says remittances to Rwanda on steady rise

Levis Karangwa, one of the participants at the forum said, some of the challenges have especially targeted consumers and small-medium businesses (those that usually have moved smaller amounts.)

The challenges he said include high costs, long transaction times, lack of transparency as well as hard-to-understand processes.

"The traditional banking approach has faced challenges from rising trends. Fintech is transforming the current scene and creating a faster, easier and more transparent system of cross-border payments,” Karangwa told The New Times, on the sidelines of the event.

Speaking at the forum, Pardon Mujakachi, Head of Expansion organization at Chipper said that beyond transactions the next products to be introduced into the country will be the virtual Chipper Card, offering people an easy way to shop, stream and subscribe online.

"We are on a mission to unlock global opportunities and connect Africa, one transaction at a time. Today we take an important step forward, as we announce we are bringing Chipper Cash to Rwanda.”

According to a recent report by McKinsey, domestic electronic-payment volumes, including wallet-enabled payments in Africa, more than tripled between 2015 and 2020.

It is likely these will increase five-fold by 2025 with close to 150 billion transactions.

However, the cost of sending money back to countries like Rwanda remains a key challenge, setting back senders as much as Rwf20,000.

"We believe that using Chipper Cash will ease money transfer challenges for Rwandans, deepen financial inclusion and accelerate the development of an interconnected African global economy. Working closely with our key regulatory partners, we are excited to become operational in the country to expand people’s access to inclusive financial services,” Mujakachi asserted.