Scaling Cross-Border Financial Inclusion across Africa

Overview

Mama Money is a leading financial service provider dedicated to helping foreign nationals in South Africa manage their money with dignity and ease. By offering a comprehensive suite of services – including remittances, banking, and savings – Mama Money provides a vital lifeline for communities that have historically been underserved by traditional financial institutions.

To transform from a niche startup into a regional powerhouse, Mama Money partnered with Thunes to leverage our Direct Global Network for global payments, while remaining focused on their core mission: improving the lives of their customers through technology.

The Problem

As an ambitious startup, Mama Money faced a classic scaling dilemma. While they had a deep understanding of their customer base in South Africa, they lacked the internal capacity to build and manage a global distribution network from scratch.

The primary hurdles included:

• Infrastructure limitations: Building individual connections to payout partners in different countries was resource-intensive.
• Speed to market: The time required to negotiate and integrate new corridors threatened to stall their growth.
• Operational complexity: Managing the intricate receiving-side distribution and float requirements across diverse markets was a significant drain on their lean team.

The Solution

By integrating with Thunes, Mama Money shifted its focus from building infrastructure to driving customer acquisition. Thunes provided the plug-and-play connectivity needed to unlock global payout options instantly.

How it works:

• Rapid expansion: Mama Money moved from operating in a single corridor to serving over 70 countries globally.
• Reliable payouts: Direct access to a network that prioritises transaction success rates and competitive pricing.
• Operational agility: Thunes’ support team provides hands-on management of liquidity and float, out-of-hours and even during unpredictable high-volume periods.

The Impact

The 11-year partnership has seen Mama Money evolve into a major player in the African fintech landscape, with 300% growth since 2023. The collaboration has moved beyond a simple technical integration into a deep cultural and operational alignment.

• Massive corridor growth: A 70x increase in geographic reach since the partnership began.
• Uninterrupted service: Robust support during critical growth spikes, ensuring that customers can always send money when it matters most.
• Customer trust: Reliability and competitive pricing have become the hallmark of the Mama Money brand, fueled by Thunes’ backend efficiency.