Meet Laura Lefèvre, Building Partnerships for the Mobile Generation
This year, we’re celebrating International Women’s Day by recognising some of WorldRemit’s trailblazing women including Laura Lefèvre, Mobile & Digital Partnerships Manager. WorldRemit is one of London’s most gender-diverse fintech companies, and a champion of this year’s theme of #BalanceForBetter.
Tell us about your journey into fintech.
I started my professional career 7 years ago working in marketing for Orange, a multinational telecommunications company. When I joined their international team focusing on Asia, Middle East, and Africa, I was quickly amazed at the variety of innovative products and services offered across the developing world.
Mobile Network Operators must be creative to face the enhanced competition and lack of infrastructure in these markets. One of the most breath-taking innovations that some MNO have deployed is mobile money, which is essentially a digital account which allows you to store money, instantly pay for goods and services or simply transfer money to someone else with a basic mobile phone.
I soon became a passionate promoter and user of mobile money — it was such an easy way to pay my utility bills with it when living across Africa. During my last years at Orange I worked extensively on the development of the Orange Money e-wallet service in 17 African countries. From there, it was a natural transition to “cross the bridge” and work for a fintech company like WorldRemit.
What brought you to WorldRemit?
Firstly, I strongly believed in the product. As an international traveller and expatriate, I had always felt that the high costs and poor quality of service on international transfers was unfair. Having witnessed the potential of mobile money in African countries, I was excited to work for a company that was a global leader in sending mobile remittances.
Secondly, my first interactions with the WorldRemit team — including the company’s inspiring co-founder Catherine Wines — during the interview process made me realise that we shared the same values: a commitment to multi-cultural diversity, hard work and delivering a positive impact on society.
What is your role at WorldRemit?
As Mobile and Digital Partnerships Manager, I develop WorldRemit’s corporate partnerships with digital wallet service providers across Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. These commercial partnerships allow us to increase the number of customers who can use international transfer service in those regions and grow our business.
What excites you about mobile money and why does this play such a special role in our business?
Mobile money is the world’s new bank! According to the latest World Bank figures, 1.7 billion people remain unbanked, and for the largest part, these people live in developing economies. With more than 690 million users worldwide, mobile money is helping bridge the gap of financial inclusion.
Mobile money has become a significant part of our business because in many of our key receive markets, such as Kenya and Uganda, for example, it is the preferred method to exchange money as compared to cash and bank transfers. As a leader in this field, WorldRemit has a key competitive advantage: we can reach people living in even the most remote rural areas who may be relying on the money sent by their relatives abroad.
Can you tell us about one of your favourite days on the job at WorldRemit?
As part of my role, I have participated in several conferences and panels related to digital finance and remittances to promote the benefits of digitisation within the payments industry. Last year, I had the chance to speak at a conference in San Francisco focusing on fintech in Latin America. On the panel, I shared WorldRemit’s experience advancing financial inclusion using digital channels in Latin America — a definite career highlight!
Any advice for young people hoping to break into tech?
The tech industry has a place for everyone whether you are in engineering, sales, marketing or customer service. My biggest advice would be to aim for a high-level understanding about how your company’s product works. Once you know that, you can deploy creative solutions to figure out how to scale the brand using your unique skillset.
To learn more about career opportunities at WorldRemit, visit our website.
