Digital currency companies Bitrefill and Celery have partnered to provide the cheapest mobile airtime remittance service from the US. Users can send instant mobile airtime remittances to over 100 countries. Bitrefill has also announced their free airtime remittance service to India. Sergej Kotliar, Bitrefill founder and CEO, shared the news publicly on March 23, 2015 at the annual International Money Transfer Conference in Las Vegas, NV.
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Bitrefill
is a global prepaid phone service that allows users to refill or “top up” prepaid mobile phones with bitcoin. Currently, Bitrefill works with 425 operators and allows people in over 100 countries around the globe to buy airtime. By using Bitcoin, Bitrefill’s costs are reduced, and they pass those savings on to their customers.
Celery is a New York based exchange and online wallet for bitcoin, litecoin & dogecoin. Celery allows you to send money to friends, family or even to retailers to pay for goods. You can also buy, sell, and store your digital currency with Celery.
To Send Money:
- You simply select “Phone Refill” from the Celery menu.
- Enter the mobile number you wish to send money to.
- Choose how much you want to send.
The process is automatic; USD is withdrawn from the sender’s US bank account and arrives on the recipient’s phone in one minute.
Free Airtime Remittance to India
Bitrefill’s new airtime remittance service to India is provided for free, including exchange fee and currency conversion. This is a huge opportunity for India as it is the largest receiver of remittances from around the world. Bitrefill and Celery have honed in on India because money transfer from the US to India is ranked as one of the highest among other remittance corridors.
The Growing Airtime Remittance Market
There are 4 billion people worldwide who use prepaid mobile phones, and the user base continues to grow each year. This provides a substantial opportunity for bitcoin companies such as Bitrefill. These companies provide users a safer, easier, less expensive option to transfer money.
Some of the highest banking remittance fees are often in developing countries such as India. For this reason airtime remittance services like Bitrefill hold enormous power. They can financially impact millions of people worldwide and help to positively shape global economies.
Image: Flickr, Bitrefill
