In six years we’ve become the world’s leading remitter in East and West Africa — making sending money to Africa as easy and affordable as sending a text. This year we’re taking our mission to Asia, starting with Bangladesh. Hear from our Head of Global Partnerships Maxwell Obi on how we did it.
Key recipe for finding our partners:
- Find value alignment
- Identify true need
- Repeat.
When I joined Sendwave I had two missions. The first was to lead our expansion into new markets like Bangladesh and the second was to improve our existing partner network in Africa. Bangladesh was Sendwave’s first footprint in Asia after our many successes in Africa. My job was to make a splash with a successful entry into the market for Bangladeshi remittances into mobile money wallets and bank accounts. No pressure. My goal was to get the necessary regulatory approvals as a first step, then identify and secure the right bank, telco and/or technical partners that would help us give our users the best deals. I had to do all this while making sure they aligned with our value proposition — making sending money as easy and as affordable as sending a text. This was key.
Mission above all else
So why Bangladesh? How does Sendwave determine what markets to launch and ultimately who our partners will be? Quite simply, it comes down to our mission. We look to where we would make the most impact at a large scale; there are many markets where Sendwave could easily gain traction and find a fit but not every market is in need of disruption. In a market like Bangladesh where remittances make up about 7% of the GDP, Sendwave has the potential to effectively alter the Bangladeshi diaspora’s money sending culture with an instant and no-fees service.
We seek partners who align with our mission to make sending money as easy and affordable as sending a text. Where we are unable to get the best deals for our users then the potential partner isn’t as ferociously driven by our mission as we are and that simply will not work. It’s what keeps us going here at Sendwave and drives every relationship we make.
With all these in mind, I began my 12+ hour journey to Bangladesh to begin my mission in Asia. I thought I could start my trip on the right foot by hiring a translator to meet me when I landed in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. Crisis averted, right? Wrong. It turned out that my translator was a full-time student with a booked and busy schedule and wasn’t actually available to rescue me from the airport. I was hit with my first solo challenge with full force but the beauty of the Bengali-themed city and colourful crowds, going about their daily business was a delight to watch.
No empty stomachs
Beyond the language barriers, establishing relationships and paying attention to cultural appropriations was essential. Bangladeshis are very friendly and they value lunch time very much. They will insist on offering you a meal during meetings and lunch breaks, so best to go for a meeting with an empty stomach. I learned this after having four lunch offers the same day!
After navigating the relationships, we reach what seems like a straight path — identifying the right partners, negotiating deals and launching the corridors. However, these come with their own challenges. You have to make sure a partner has the right technology to support our value proposition and sometimes the regulators and banks might not be very responsive to your requests. After research and a few false starts, we were able to secure the right partners to bring Sendwave to our users in Bangladesh and the diaspora.
In the end, I finalized a partnership which allowed our customers send money to bKash, the largest mobile money operator in Bangladesh. bKash has deep penetration in Bangladesh and vast agent networks. With our partnerships locked in, Bangladeshis in the US and UK can now send money directly into their recipient’s bkash wallets through the Sendwave app.
As we grow we’re looking for people (and partners!) who are just as passionate about our mission as we are. If this sounds like you, take a look at our opportunities today: https://boards.greenhouse.io/waveapp
