SimbaPay, a London-based digital money transfer provider, has launched an Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbot service which enables international money transfers (remittances) through SMS. The chatbot service also allows 24/7 instant customer service for its customers across Europe and Africa. The chatbot service has been launched in partnership with Interswitch, an electronic payments and commerce company.

“We’re thrilled at the prospect of the chatbot service resolving most customer enquiries instantly at any time of day or night,” Daniel Howard, CTO SimbaPay said. “Another major objective we achieved with the chatbot service is that it also works without internet. This means customers with a mobile phone, even a basic phone without internet access, can access the SimbaPay chatbot using SMS”.

Speaking on the Interswitch partnership with SimbaPay, Paul Mwaura Ndichu, CEO Interswitch East Africa (K) said, “Interswitch is proud to be associated with a company as innovative as SimbaPay which is continually looking to improve and expand its product offering. We will continue to collaborate in the development of products and services that contribute to the expansion of the fintech space”.

SimbaPay’s B2B division in partnership with Interswitch provides instant remittance technology to banks and telcos who want to offer their customers modern digital remittance services.

Users can now send money on the SimbaPay platform with just an SMS where all they need is the recipient’s phone number and the chatbot will automatically acquire the recipient’s mobile money details or bank account information.

Additionally, the new service enables the recipients of money transfers to choose whether they want the money delivered to their mobile money wallet (e.g. M-Pesa, MTN Money, Airtel Money) or their bank account.

SimbaPay has also factored in situations where the recipient’s smartphone does not have airtime credit or internet data bundles by making the chatbot accessible via free SMS.

The chatbot is capable of handling thousands of customer enquiries per hour. Furthermore, the chatbot is accessible on SimbaPay’s social media channels such as Facebook. The chatbot handles enquiries such as exchange rate queries, coverage enquiries, and instructions on how to send money.

How Does SimbaPay Work?

Customers residing in countries where SimbaPay is activated simply have to download the SimbaPay app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play Store. Once the app is installed on smartphone, computer, or tablet, users can then securely make money transfers.

Last year, SimbaPay was nominated the best Remittance Service in Africa at the Digital Impact Awards in Africa. The company has also been chosen to receive investment from a Norwegian-based social impact fund called Katapult. Moreover, SimbaPay was among the 10 companies chosen to join the first ever Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars in Africa.