A combined credit and US-based international money transfer service, Pomelo’s charge card enables families in the US to build and extend their credit access abroad without having to incur expensive remittance fees.
As per information provided by the World Bank, remittances to low- and middle-income countries are expected to reach USD 630 billion in 2022 and, regardless of a 4.2% increase from 2021, international money transfers still impose expensive transfer fees and exchange rate markups on senders.
Launched to combat this challenge, Pomelo is the first option that enables families to combine credit and money transfer to make it easier to offer credit to overseas friends and family. By adding this type of flexibility and accessibility, the company broadens financial inclusion for members of underserved communities needing it most and helps new Americans with establishing and strengthening their credit profiles as they start their US financial journey. As a result, by leveraging Galileo’s payment processing solution, Pomelo aims to deliver PCI-compliant authorisation, reconciliation, and settlement processing in a secure, fast, and accurate manner.
Pomelo officials have stated that they were looking to re-envision traditional international money transfers and enable their customers and their loves ones in emerging economies to access modern financial instruments, advising that this was made possible through Galileo’s API technology and deep industry knowledge when it comes to the delivery of inclusive digital financial services that consolidate a seamless customer payments experience.
Galileo’s speed, precision and reliability ranging from authorisation through settlement is believed to support Pomelo’s ability to authorise requests in a quick manner, ensure post accuracy, and enable customers to move money and settle funds across all ecosystem partners. Apart from instant access to funds, the Galileo Payment Risk platform will deliver end-to-end fraud and risk management and chargeback protection, looking to support provisioning/onboarding and protect clients against payments fraud.
Galileo representatives have said in the press release that through this partnership, the company aims to support Pomelo’s growth by powering their financial solutions with differentiation, automation, readiness, and extensibility to facilitate the creation of better-connected ecosystems as they are looking to innovate money transfers through inclusive credit solutions.
As of now, Pomelo cardholders can send money from the US to the Philippines, with India and Mexico set to follow alongside plans for further international expansion.
Galileo is a financial technology company that aims to enable fintechs and emerging and established brands alike to create differentiated financial solutions that expand the financial frontier through means of its platform, open API technology and expertise. Galileo helps remove the complexity associated with payments and financial services innovation by providing flexible, open API building blocks and a secure, scalable, future-proof platform. The company supports physical and virtual payment cards issuance, as well as mobile push provisioning amongst others, across industries and geographies.
Issued by Coastal Community Bank in accordance with a license from Mastercard International, the Pomelo Mastercard features a mobile app that is available on both Android and iOS. US citizens and permanent residents over the age of 18 can apply for the card and invite their loved ones abroad to join their family plan. After doing so, Pomelo instantly sends them a virtual card, followed by a physical card via courier delivery, enabling them to benefit from the convenience of shopping online and swiping at checkout, instead of having to handle cash.
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