Byline: Imane Charioui, Director of Francophone Africa & Middle East, WorldRemit
Beirut, Lebanon – 2022: In the last year, the number of internet users in Lebanon has grown from 5.31 to 6.01 million.1,2 As the economic crisis is preventing the Lebanese from investing their potential in the economic development of their country, the entrepreneurship mindset is taking place now to turn the crisis into an opportunity.3
This has in turn led to an increase in social media activity with many Lebanese signing up to popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok, creating a network of connections unlike any that has existed before. By January 2022, 75.2% of the country’s population, equivalent to 5.06 million people, were on social media4. A vast majority of this group are youth, given that over 82.13% of the country’s people are under 54 years of age.5
It is this network that we at WorldRemit are using to showcase the advancements in the developed world, particularly around money transfer technologies, with a focus on how they can be adapted locally to transform the country’s economy.
We see every social media account as an entry point for engaging individual youth on matters around financial inclusion and the role of remittances in expanding opportunities for national growth. As key players in the country’s remittance business, we are best placed to lead dialogue on the sector, and matters around financial inclusion.
Indeed, in 2021, we established a partnership with Cash Plus, a reputable brand and cash pick up network. By adding the Cash Plus brand to the WorldRemit network, recipients of money transfers in Lebanon are able to collect their payments from over 140 Cash Plus outlets across the country. This seamless integration is now connecting Lebanese people to global financial systems, and introducing them to the benefits of timely, convenient and affordable money transfer.6
Today, US Dollars can be sent from the US to Lebanon’s capital Beirut, and be in the recipient’s hands within minutes. This is in comparison to just a few years ago, when older, more traditional, transfer services could take up to two weeks to complete as the transaction bounced across banks and switches; and even when it reached the destination, the recipient had to travel to find a withdrawal point.
Yet even as we now operate at the pinnacle of efficiency, we are continuously working to ensure that we reach as many youth as possible through digital innovations that move with the current trends, to optimize our services further.
Sources:
- DataReportal. Digital 2021: Lebanon. February 2021
- DataReportal. Digital 2022: Lebanon. February 2022
- Startups & Places. Beirut’s Entrepreneurs Master the Crisis. March 2022
- DataReportal. Digital 2022: Lebanon. February 2022
- Indexmundi. Lebanon Age Structure. September 2021
- WorldRemit. WorldRemit launches money transfer service to Lebanon. November 2021
About WorldRemit
We’re a leading global payments company and, along with Sendwave, part of Zepz, a group powering two global payments brands.
We disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online – making them safer, faster and lower-cost. We currently send from 50 countries to recipients in 130 countries, operate in more than 5,000 money transfer corridors worldwide and employ over 1,200 people globally.
On the sending side WorldRemit is 100% digital (cashless), increasing convenience and enhancing security. For those receiving money, the company offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, mobile airtime top-up and mobile money.
Backed by Accel, TCV and Leapfrog – WorldRemit’s headquarters are in London, United Kingdom with regional offices around the globe.