The pandemic continues to be a cause for worry, but that hasn’t stopped businesses from adapting, innovating and moving quickly to meet the evolving consumer trends. The cross-border payments industry is perhaps the biggest impact-generator in this case.
Having emerged in recent months as the torchbearer of economic sustenance for millions of families in low- and middle-income countries, the sector has benefitted from VC-level investments, fintech innovations and digitisation of legacy institutions. All geared to accelerate the shift to modern, affordable solutions for the world’s migrants and business entities through services such as bank to bank transfer, digital transfers and cash-to-cash transfers.
After the US, GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are among the top ten remittance-sending countries globally, according to the World Bank. The Middle East, naturally, is a hotbed of innovation, thriving off the constant competition between emerging players and existing, more established entities.
Rapid expansion and collaborative partnerships
Amidst this race, LuLu Financial Group, one of the largest remittance-to-banknotes financial services provider in the GCC region, has been taking multiple giant strides in 2021.
Operating 235 branches in 11 countries, the group has so far this year, opened 12 new branches in five different countries. The number is significant considering that the group opened less than half of this in the entire 2020, and 2021 is just getting started.
The group is simultaneously getting into collaborative partnerships with global financial institutions like Ripple, NBE, Federal Bank and Alfalah Bank to bolster payment corridors such as India, Pakistan and Egypt. In addition, it has strengthened its presence in the APAC region and South Asian region, with the commencement of operations in Singapore, and expansion of service basket, including wholesale banknotes and e-wallet, in countries like Malaysia and Philippines.
Led by its managing director, Adeeb Ahamed, the group’s recent expansion is a positive sign of using the learnings of the past and present to define the next decade of financial inclusion, with 2021 as the springboard year.
With the second quarter of 2021 just having started, LuLu Financial Group is further rolling out a line of proprietary services and products, including the launch of a powerful and feature-laden upgrade to its mobile payments solution, LuLu Money. The Group has also positioned itself as UAE’s leading provider of WPS payroll services and is readying the launch of its NBFC in India.
As a successful homegrown MNC with origins in Abu Dhabi, LuLu Financial Group is a jewel in the UAE’s payments ecosystem, whose story of growth and entrepreneurship comes with hope amidst the global economic and social crisis.
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