Wave Mobile Money

We're making Africa the first cashless continent.

In 2017, nearly 60% of adults in sub-Saharan Africa had no bank account. That's for good reason—the fees are too high, the closest branch can be miles away, and nobody takes cards. Without access to financial institutions, people are forced to keep their savings under the mattress. Small business owners rely on lenders who charge extortionate rates. Parents spend hours waiting in line to pay school fees in cash. Wave points to the effect of mobile money in Kenya, where it lifted about a million people out of poverty, as an example of what affordable digital finance can do. The company describes its approach as using technology to build a radically inclusive and extremely affordable financial network.

We're solving this by building financial services that just work: no account fees, instantly available, and accepted everywhere. In places where electricity, water and roads don't always work, you can still send money with Wave. In November 2017, we launched a mobile app in Senegal for cash deposit, withdrawal, and peer-to-peer and business payments. In 2019, we expanded to Cote D'Ivoire. Now, we have millions of users and are growing fast.

Our goal is to drive financial inclusion and make Africa the first cashless continent.

With Wave, users can deposit and withdraw money, pay bills, and buy airtime. Deposits, withdrawals, and bill payments are free, and sending money to another person costs 1%. The company runs a toll-free number for customer support, and its leadership includes a head of agent operations. It also has general managers for its Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire markets.