Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has launched its digital money transfer service from South Africa to over 150 destinations worldwide.

In a statement, the company said using the WorldRemit app or website, customers can now send money to global destinations including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, the United Kingdom, India and Pakistan.

WorldRemit is looking to tap into a growing opportunity within the South African market, specifically the high cost of sending money.

The company quoted statistics by the World Bank which claim that South Africa is the most expensive G20 country to send money from with an average cost of over 15% for sending US$200 - more than double the global average. Currently, 68% of remittances from South Africa are sent through informal channels such as unregistered courier services ("malaicha") and buses crossing the border.

The money transfer service said its fees and exchange rates are shown up-front and senders from South Africa can choose from a variety of pay-out options including bank transfer, cash pick-up and mobile money.

It has now established a new office in Johannesburg as part of its plans to expand its partner network across Africa.

Andrew Stewart, Managing Director for Middle East and Africa at WorldRemit, said: "South Africa is one of WorldRemit's top ten remittance receiving countries, with transactions to the country growing by over 50% year-on-year. We are delighted to start this next phase of our growth."

The company added that it offers complete transparency "because both senders and recipients receive notifications with details of how much money has been sent." Senders can also use the 'track your transfer' function to check the status of their transactions in real time.

In early December 2018 the company announced a partnership with Atlas Mara Limited-owned Zimbabwe financial institution BancABC to provide a digital money transfer service.

In June 2018 it also partnered with Nigeria's First Bank to enable users in over 50 countries to send instant money transfers direct to 14 million First Bank accounts.

In April 2018 WorldRemit again made headlines after announcing an exclusive partnership with MVNO brand Lebara, allowing for over 3 million Lebara Mobile and Lebara Money users to leverage the WorldRemit service.

According to recent figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) approximately 21 million shoppers in Africa in 2017 helped drive a market valued at US$5.7 billion in sales. Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa are said to account for almost half of the e-commerce market in Africa.