YES MONEY is an award-winning domestic remittance model that leverages India’s significant mobile phone penetration, its extensive network of family-owned retail stores, and the pan-India network of bank branches, to meet the remittance needs of the underbanked population.

YES MONEY is an innovative, technology-driven solution catering to India’s large migrant worker population. The current cash remittance services available to migrants, primarily from public sector banks, are highly constrained: they are only available during business hours and require users to lose a day’s wage standing in lines. The banks also require extensive proof of identity, considerably limiting migrants’ financial freedom.

The Domestic Money Transfer service provided by YES MONEY enables the sender to use any nearby shop that is registered to initiate money transfer to any bank account across the country. This works on a pre-funded model wherein the retailer purchases limits from YES BANK and is allowed to carry out transactions up to that limit. The sender pays cash over the counter to the retailer, who in turn carries out the transaction. The transactions are paperless with SMS receipts being sent to the mobile numbers of the remittance sender and receiver.

Why you should care

Amidst India’s rapid rise as a global economy, weak economic integration of millions of Indians at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP) remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Indian economy. Greater economic integration of the BOP in both urban and rural India has multiple socio-economic benefits, including poverty reduction, greater financial security and reduced cost of financial services.

How the Global Goals are addressed

No Poverty

The service provides an economical, secure and immediate remittance service to India’s migrant population, helping to alleviate poverty both in India and outside the country.

Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

This technology is helping to innovate the financial sector in India by leveraging the benefits of widespread and affordable mobile technology.

Reduced Inequalities

Millions of migrant workers in India are constrained by inefficient institutional process requirements for sending remittances. YES MONEY addresses this financial inequality using mobile technology.