Streamlining Remittances with Cryptocurrency: Noah Project Aims to Disrupt the Industry
Remittances play a key role in many developing economies, helping to sustain local populations in the poorest regions. In the last two decades, we’ve seen a sharp rise in labor migration with around 250 million people migrating abroad and half of them actively seeking employment. In many cases, work migration is the only option available to families living in harsh conditions.
Being a global phenomenon, remittances are most visible in Asia and Africa. In 2017, India and China attracted around $60 billion each in remittances, while the Philippines topped at $30 billion. The governments and many organizations around the world have taken various efforts to facilitate easier and cheaper remittances. Now with the emergence of new advanced technologies including blockchain, fintech companies and high-tech startups are also joining the search for new solutions.
One of them is the Noah Project which looks to tap into wide remittances flows across Asia. With the use of blockchain technology and its internal token called Noah Coin, the team plans to provide fast remittances with the primary focus on the Japan-Philippines corridor.
How does the remittances industry work?
Remittances are any transfers of value (money or any other valuable assets) that are sent from overseas workers to their families and friends at home. With the work migration taking a truly global scale, remittances provide a lifeline for many middle and low-income countries, where other sources of income might be out of reach. Natural calamities and political, economic and military crises usually trigger a fast growth in remittances which has been seen as a testament to the remittances’ power to help populations in the direst circumstances.
Recently, the world has seen a dramatic increase in both overseas work migration and remittances. As the statistics reveal, the aggregate volumes of remittances have shown an explosive growth with only 100 billion in annual transfers back in 1990, and 600 billion in 2016.
Generally, remittances are made across the borders which significantly complicates the passage of cash flows, adds costs and limits the numbers of potential operators. Broadly speaking, all processors can be divided into major banking institutions, payment systems (for example, Western Union) and “grey” micro-businesses.
Despite the strong growth in volumes, the remittances fees have remained high with the global average at 7%. The United Nations, G8, G20 and many other organizations all over the world have recognized the need for a concerted action to drive down the fees processors charge. With the absolute volumes being so high, even slightest changes in fees can have a significant positive effect on the most vulnerable populations globally.
And it might be the new tech solutions that will deliver the sought-after reductions in fees. One of such solutions is blockchain and cryptocurrencies developed on top which can help reduce waiting time and fees users pay. The Noah Project will create the infrastructural ecosystem powered by decentralized technology, where, among other use cases, members will be able to remit value in a fast, affordable and secure way.
What benefits will the Noah Project bring to remittances?
The Noah Project creates a remittance solution based on its own token — Noah Coin, created on the Ethereum platform.
Noah Coins can be sent from one wallet to another, irrespective of the users locations, offering a great alternative to conventional remittance options. Users can benefit from fast processing and much lower fees. In addition, transactions in cryptocurrencies ensure heightened security and safety, no risk of delayed payments and no upper or lower limits on the amounts.
What’s more, Noah Coin is connected to PayRemit, a large Philippines-based payment gateway, which opens the way for Noah’s holders to transact directly in outlets connected to PayRemit. Among these are endless online stores, government agencies, deliver services and much more.
How to take advantage of the benefits Noah Coin offers? Purchasing the tokens is fast and easy — users can buy a “gateway” cryptocurrency, such as Ether or Bitcoin, at any cryptocurrency exchange and then convert those coins into Noah Coins at a number of exchanges, such as HitBTC, Changelly, BTC-Alpha, Livecoin, YoBit, and Mercatox. All operations take only several seconds to complete.
To make the remittance process even smoother and more reliable, the Noah Project has introduced its own Noah wallet, available in both App Store and Google Store. Thanks to the intuitive, austere interface and various features, users can safely store, easily send and receive Noah Coins and a number of other major coins, such as Ether and Bitcoin.
With the help of advanced technologies, the Noah Project is set to disrupt and streamline remittances, enabling overseas workers to transfer value to their families and friends with lower fees and faster processing speed. You are welcome to experience personally the convenience that the Noah Project brings, benefiting from the cutting edge technology solutions in remittances.
