HomeSend and Dialog Axiata Join Forces to Bring Safe, Secure Cross-Border Money Transfer Service to Sri Lanka

Agreement to provide cross-border remittance services to 14 million subscribers

Colombo , Sri Lanka – July 16, 2015 – HomeSend, a joint venture between MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS, today announced an agreement with Dialog Axiata to make international remittance services available to millions of consumers across Sri Lanka.

Dialog Axiata, Sri Lanka’s largest telecommunications provider, launched eZ Cash, which grew to become the world’s first inter-operable mobile money service with the advent of Etisalat and Hutch to the platform. eZ Cash provides a network of more than 16,000 physical transaction points in Sri Lanka and is the winner of the Mobile World Award for Best Mobile Money service at the Mobile World Congress in Spain.

The agreement announced today will see HomeSend’s hub powering remittance services globally to send money to eZ Cash accounts. Now, 14 million customers of Dialog, Etisalat and Hutch will be able to receive money from anywhere in the world with access to the 16,000-strong eZ Cash terminals across Sri Lanka. Using the HomeSend remittance hub, WorldRemit, mHits, Azimo, PostFinance and Lycaremit will be the first partners to launch services to eZ Cash from 16 July 2015, with other partners scheduled for launch in due course.

“eZ Cash is committed to providing our customers with services that fit their needs, and this partnership with HomeSend will enhance the reach and capability of mobile money services in the country to the rest of the world,” said Fariq Cader, Vice President, Dialog Digital Services. “eZ Cash customers now have a safe and seamless solution to receive funds from their loved ones, regardless of where they are in the world.”

Stephen Doyle, CEO, HomeSend said: “The ability to safely send money electronically in real time to family and friends provides speed, convenience and choice to Sri Lankans living abroad and a critical lifeline to those receiving it at home. By partnering with eZ Cash, we are able to provide millions of Sri Lankans a secure and convenient way to receive funds from family abroad straight to their mobile phone.”

In June 2012, eZ Cash became Sri Lanka’s first mobile money service following being awarded a license under the aegis of the Payments and Settlements Act No 28 of 2005. Custodial banking services for Sri Lanka’s pioneering mobile money service is provided by Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB).

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About Dialog Axiata

Dialog Axiata PLC, a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad (Axiata), operates Sri Lanka’s largest and fastest growing mobile telecommunications network. Dialog has been at the forefront of innovation in the mobile industry in Sri Lanka since the late 90’s, propelling the nation’s mobile telephony infrastructure to a level of advancement on par with the developed world.

Dialog, a winner of two World Awards at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in 2015, has the distinction of being voted by Sri Lankan Consumers as the Telecom Service Provider of the Year for four years in succession at the SLIM-Nielsen People’s Choice Awards. Dialog has topped Sri Lanka’s Corporate Accountability rankings for the past 5 years in succession and is an ISO 9001 certified company. Dialog is also one of the largest listed companies on the Colombo Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization. Dialog is also Sri Lanka’s largest Foreign Direct Investor (FDI) with investments totalling over USD 1.7 billion.

Dialog delivers advanced mobile telephony and high speed mobile broadband services to a subscriber base in excess of 10 Million Sri Lankans, via 2.5G and 3G/3.5G and 4G networks. Dialog Axiata supplements its market leading position in the Mobile Telecommunications sector with a robust footprint and market presence in Sri Lanka’s Fixed Telecommunications and Digital Television markets through its fully-owned subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Private) Ltd., (DTV).

About HomeSend

HomeSend is a joint venture created by MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS that enables B2B cross-border and cross-network value transfers through a single connection. It builds on the successful deployment of mobile enabled person-to-person transfers in emerging markets and the digitalization of money transfer services. The HomeSend service innovatively bridges the gap between finance and telecommunication service providers and enables consumers to send money to and from mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets – regardless of their location or that of the recipient.