UAE’s Botim Now Offers Money Transfer To 200 Countries

BOTIM, the UAE’s ‘Whatsapp’ has announced that it will be tying up with MoneyGram International, Inc., a global financial technology company to offer near real-time money transfer service anywhere in the world. BOTIM is the largest Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) app in the whole of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with over ninety million registered users and around twenty-five million active users. BOTIM will also be the first platform in the region to offer a money transfer service to its customers. 

Alex Holmes, CEO, and Chairman of MoneyGram said that the company is excited to open this new chapter with BOTIM where they are offering money-transferring capabilities to the residents of the UAE. He felt confident at the growth of their company as more and more people around the world are using MoneyGram for their financial needs and they are also capable of offering fintech services to major international organizations. 

BOTIM is MENA region’s largest communications app

BOTIM is MENA region’s largest communications app that offers VoIP services along with other messaging and calling capabilities

Abdallah Abu Sheikh, Founder of Astra Tech and BOTIM CEO also expressed his happiness in partnering with MoneyGram as this would help them to offer the users a world-class fintech experience and also do so in a secure environment protected by the unparalleled security system of MoneyGram.

Both companies are hopeful that they would be able to provide a seamless and hassle-free experience to their users by helping them to transfer money at the click of a button. 

Astra Tech, the parent company of BOTIM, has been on an expansion strategy where they will be offering everything from instant messaging to secure digital payments. The acquisition of BOTIM by Astra Tech happened only recently and this makes it one of the largest communication technology companies in the MENA region.

The company had also decided to offer digital payment services to users after conducting a massive online poll in which they asked the consumers about the most desired service from BOTIM. More than two million responses were siding towards the inclusion of money transfer service in the messaging and VoIP app. 

Grant Lines, Chief Revenue Officer at MoneyGram said that the eighty-year legacy of the company has helped it build one of the most trusted and the world’s largest P2P payment networks.

The new partnership between BOTIM and MoneyGram points to the potential of this model and how other organizations can also tap into the benefits of this service.

Mr.Lines also stated that the new service offered by BOTIM will assist MoneyGram in establishing a leading position in the Middle-east region and start off with a positive impact on the business as a whole.          

The acquisition of the BOTIM app by Astra Tech happened during the second week of January this year and they are aiming to revise BOTIM as an ‘ultra app’ that is capable of offering a range of services to its users.

The expansion plan has funding of over $500 million and this would make Astra one of the key players in the region. The company had earlier acquired other establishments like Payby (a fintech company) and Rizek home cleaning services.  

Mr. Abu Sheikh expects that the relaunch of BOTIM will open a new chapter in the tech arena of the UAE as it will be striving to become a monolithic app that offers multiple features and services. This would be beautifully integrated into the platform using an intuitive interface.

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It will also put an end to loads of unwanted apps being installed on your device and cramp up user behavior through cumbersome digital offerings. 

He emphasized that the need for an “all-encompassing app” is crucial for customer satisfaction and it will help direct the economy into a more productive cycle. The decision to acquire BOTIM hits the right spot as the goal now would be to build an ultra app that will become the benchmark for all other apps globally. It will be able to seamlessly integrate all the necessary services into one efficient app that will help customers through their digital journey.          

Astra has been on a hybrid strategy of expansion where on one side they are creating a leading team of tech development professionals and on the other, they are acquiring handpicked digital assets that will help the company to expand its ecosystem.

BOTIM has been one of the big fishes in this acquisition process as the messaging app became a huge hit during the COVID pandemic. This was the only app for the communication needs of a UAE resident as it offered chats, voice and video calling, group chats, etc. with the group chat limit increased to five hundred users.    

The officials are expecting that the money transfer feature will be available to BOTIM users in the UAE in February.