Every year, migrants send more than $580 billion home to their families all over the world – that’s over three times the value of all global foreign aid contributions. This growing, global phenomenon is the driver for the development of ASX-listed business DigitalX (ASX: DCC).
While headquartered in Perth, DigitalX is a Boston and New York based organisation focused on the digital payments industry and the development of fintech products and services.
The company is making a name for itself by developing blockchain enhanced payment solutions.
Blockchain is the technology underpinning the digital currency bitcoin, effectively providing a digital ledger in which data is hosted for efficiencies in security, trust and cost. Santander believes the technology could save banks over $20 billion a year.
DigitalX has leveraged blockchain technology and the secure ledger system to create a patentpending technology called AirID.
CEO Leigh Travers and Research Analyst Will Brazel
AirID forms the backbone of the transaction system for the company’s flagship payment product AirPocket, a remittance app which allows consumers to make secure and cost-effective money transfers worldwide.
In March 2017, the company announced it had secured up to $1.25 million in financing from Ironside Capital. With AirPocket live on US App stores today, the funds will fuel marketing and distribution for the consumer app. In addition, the Company will be offering AirID as a turnkey solution for other businesses seeking to leverage the benefits of blockchain technology.
The DigitalX management team brings together expertise and experience from a range of technology, entrepreneurship and capital markets backgrounds.
CEO of DigitalX, and board member of Australia’s industry body for Blockchain companies, the ADCA, Leigh Travers stated: “From the outset, we set our mission to promote financial inclusion via low-cost services that help under-banked users create a financial identity through the application of blockchain technology.
The market for financial reputation creation in underbanked communities is massively underserved by existing operators, and we believe we can change this with the simple use of our application AirPocket.
“Our target is specifically under-banked immigrants sending money home. The main players in the sector are large legacy businesses which are resistant to change and impose high transfer fees – in other words, they offer a poor customer experience.”
The AirPocket roll-out is well underway, offering instant international money-transfers to Latin America and the Philippines, as well as mobile top-up coverage to over 4 billion phones globally.
AirPocket users can choose from tens of thousands of cash-out locations, and can deposit directly into Latin America’s top consumer bank accounts. Furthermore, AirPocket is set to integrate bill-pay capabilities, allowing users to settle international utility bills for themselves and for their family from their mobile phone.
To manage consumer marketing, AirPocket is engaged with PintaUSA who specialise in marketing to the US-Latino demographic. PintaUSA will handle AirPocket’s on-and off-line campaigns which includes radio, bodega and digital. PintaUSA has led highly successful Latino-focused campaigns for large organisations including the NFL, UFC, T-Mobile, and TransferWise.
“We are excited that AirPocket will deliver value to the immigrant community by offering low fees and exchange rate premiums that won’t change,” Mr Travers said.
“Very importantly, AirPocket offers steady forex premiums in response to dissatisfaction with the ‘casino’-like experience remittance users face on competitor platforms. The convenience of having an unchanging premium takes a significant step out of customers’ calculation of the optimal sending platform.”
With AirPocket launched, DigitalX has added AirID services to their product roadmap.
The second half of the year will see AirID enable credit based services to trusted AirPocket users, with micro and marketplace lending as the key markets.
In addition, DigitalX is partnering with organisations to allow enterprises to integrate Distributed Ledger Technology into their existing data systems.
“The opportunities for AirID are immense and we are targeting near term verticals in the supply chain and digital identity markets. The technology as a tool is revolutionary; however, only when it is applied between multiple parties for a real world use-case is the true value harnessed.”