“Fintech firm Now Money secures funding to help migrant workers”, 23 August 2017

UAE-based fintech start-up Now Money has successfully secured an investment of $700,000 from two US venture capital investors, Accion Venture Lab and Newid Capital. Both entities target the financially underserved with their investment choices… This latest round of investment funding is earmarked for a service launch across the UAE, and expansion into other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries such as Kuwait and Bahrain…Michael Schlein, CEO and president of Accion, was enthusiastic about the partnership and the potential for positive change. “Each year, migrant workers contribute more than $400bn to their home economies, and the United Arab Emirates is among the top remittance-sending countries in the world…Only 20 to 30pc of the population of the GCC earns enough to meet the traditional salary requirements needed by a traditional bank, with the rest receiving their payments through a card that offers precious little functionality besides the withdrawal of all the funds at once. Now Money signs up companies who agree to transfer wages to its app. Workers are then shown how the system works, and choose a remittance provider. Considering the high remittance rates in GCC countries, Now Money is using fintech to make a difference to migrant workers’ lives.