Dispatch

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Inspiration

One of the biggest challenges faced by families in war effected countries was receiving financial support from their family members abroad. High transaction fees, lack of alternatives and a lack of transparency all contributed to this problem, leaving families struggling to make ends meet.

According to the World Bank, the average cost of sending remittances to low income countries is a striking 7% of the amount sent. For conflict affected families, a 7% transaction fee means the difference between putting food on the table or going hungry for days. The truth is that the livelihoods of those left behind vitally depend on remittance transfers. Remittances are of central importance for restoring stability for families in post-conflict countries. At Dispatch, we are committed to changing the lives of war stricken communities. Our novel app allows families to receive money from their loved ones, without having to worry about the financial barriers that had previously stood in their area.

However, the problem is far larger. Economically, over $20 billion has been sent back and forth in the United States this year, and we are barely even two months in. There are more than 89 million migrants in the United States itself. In a hugely untapped market that cares little about its customers and is dominated by exploitative financial institutions, we provide the go-to technology-empowered alternative that lets users help their families and friends around the world. We provide a globalized, one-stop shop for sending money across the world.

Simply put, we are the iPhone of a remittance industry that uses landlines.

What problems exist

High cost, mistrust and inefficiency: Traditional remittance services often charge high fees for their services, which significantly reduces the amount of money that the recipient receives. A report by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) found that high costs of remittance lead to a loss of $25 billion every year for developing countries. Additionally, they don’t provide clear information on exchange rate and fees, which leads to mistrust among users. Remittance services tend to have an upper limit on how much one can send per transaction, and they end up leading to security issues once money has been sent over. Lastly, these agencies take days to acknowledge, process, and implement a certain transaction, making immediate transfers intractable.
Zero alternatives = exploitation: It’s also important to note that very few traditional remittance services are offered in countries affected by war. Remittance services tend not to operate in these regions. With extremely limited options, families are left with no option but to accept the high fees and poor exchange rates by these agencies. This isn’t unique to war stricken countries. This is a huge problem in developing countries. Due to the high fees associated with traditional remittance services, many families in developing countries are unable to fully rely on remittance alone to support themselves. As a result, they may turn to alternative financial options that can be exploitative and dangerous. One such alternative is the use of loan sharks, who offer quick loans with exorbitant interest rates, often trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt.

How we improve the status quo

We are a mobile application that provides a low-cost, transparent and safe way to remit money. With every transaction made through Dispatch, our users are making a tangible difference in the lives of their loved ones.

ZERO Transaction fees: Instead of charging a percentage-based commission fee, we charge a subscription fee per month. This has a number of advantages. Foremost, it offers a cost effective solution for families because it remains the same regardless of the transfer amount. This also makes the process transparent and simpler as the total cost of the transaction is clear upfront.
Simplifying the process: Due to the complexity of the current remittance process, migrants may find themselves vulnerable to exploitative offers from alternative providers. This is because they don’t understand the details and risks associated with these alternatives. On our app, we provide clear and concise information that guides users through the entire process. A big way of simplifying the process is to provide multilingual support. This not only removes barriers for immigrants, but also allows them to fully understand what’s happening without being taken advantage of.
Transparency & Security
- Clearly stated and understood fees and exchange rates - no hidden fees
- Real-time exchange rate updates
- Remittance tracker
- Detailed transaction receipts
- Secure user data (Users can only pay when requested to)
Instant notifications and Auto-Payment
- Reminders for bill payments and insurance renewals
- Can auto-pay bills (will require confirmation each time before its done) so the user remains worry-
  free and does not require an external calendar to manage finances
- Notifications for when new requests have been made by the remitter

How we built it

Backend
- Our backend is built on an intricate relational database between users, their transactions and the 170 currencies and their exchange rates
- We use the robust Checkbook API as the framework to make payments and keep track of the invoices of all payments run through Dispatch
Frontend
- We used the handy and intuitive Retool environment to develop a rudimentary app prototype, as demonstrated in our video demo
- It implements most of the core functionality of our app and makes use of our functional MySQL database to create a working app
- The Figma designs represent our vision of what the end product UI would look like

Challenges we ran into

International money transfer regulations
Government restrictions on currencies /embargos
Losing money initially with our business model

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Develop an idea with immense social potential
Integrating different APIs into one comprehensive user interface
Coming from a grand total of no hackathon experience, we were able to build a functioning prototype of our application.
Team bonding – jamming to Bollywood music

What we learned

How to use Retool and Checkbook APIs
How to deploy a full fledged mobile application
How to use MySQL
Understanding the challenges faced by migrants
Gained insight into how fintech can solve social issues

What's next for Dispatch

The primary goal of Dispatch is to empower war-affected families by providing them with a cost-effective and reliable way to receive funds from their loved ones living abroad. However, our vision extends beyond this demographic, as we believe that everyone should have access to an affordable, safe, and simple way to send money abroad.

We hope to continuously innovate and improve our app. We hope to utilize blockchain technology to make transactions more secure by providing a decentralized and tamper proof ledger. By leveraging emerging technologies such as blockchain, we aim to create a cutting-edge platform that offers the highest level of security, transparency and efficiency.

Ultimately, our goal is to create a world where sending money abroad is simple, affordable, and accessible to everyone. Through our commitment to innovation, transparency, and customer-centricity, we believe that we can achieve this vision and make a positive impact on the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Ethics

Banks are structurally disincentivized to help make payments seamless for migrants. We read through various research reports, with Global Migration Group’s 2013 Report on the “Exploitation and abuse of international migrants, particularly those in an irregular situation: a human rights approach” to further understand the violation of present ethical constructs. As an example, consider how bad a 3% transaction fees (using any traditional banking service) can be for an Indian student whose parents pay Stanford tuition - 3 % of $ 82, 162 = $ 2464.86 (USD) = 204,005.37 (INR) [1 USD = 82.07 INR] That is, it costs an extra 200,000 Indian rupees for a family that pays Stanford students via a traditional banking service. Consider the fact that, out of 1.4 billion Indians, this is greater than the average annual income for an Indian. Just the transaction fees alone can devastate a home. Clearly, we don’t destroy homes, hearts, or families. We build them, for everyone without exception.

We considered the current ethical issues that arise with traditional banking or online payment systems. The following ethical issues arise with creating exclusive, expensive, and exploitative payment services for international transfers:

Banks earn significant revenue from remittance payments, and any effort to make the process more seamless could potentially reduce their profits.
Banks may view migrant populations as a high-risk group for financial fraud, leading them to prioritize security over convenience in remittance payments
Remittance payments are often made to developing countries with less developed financial infrastructure, making it more difficult and costly for banks to facilitate these transactions
Many banks are large, bureaucratic organizations that may not be agile enough to implement new technologies or processes that could streamline remittance payments.
Banks may be more focused on attracting higher-value customers with more complex financial needs, rather than catering to the needs of lower-income migrants.
The regulatory environment surrounding remittance payments can be complex and burdensome, discouraging banks from investing in this area.
Banks do not have a strong incentive to compete on price in the remittance market, since many migrants are willing to pay high fees to ensure their money reaches its intended recipient.
Banks may not have sufficient data on the needs and preferences of migrant populations, making it difficult for them to design effective remittance products and services.
Banks may not see remittance payments as a strategic priority, given that they are only a small part of their overall business.
Banks may face cultural and linguistic barriers in effectively communicating with migrant populations, which could make it difficult for them to understand and respond to their needs.

Collectively, as remittances lower, we lose out on the effects of trickle-down economics in developing countries, detrimentally harming how they operate and even stunting their growth in some cases. For the above reasons, our app could not be a traditional online banking system. We feel there is an ethical responsibility to help other countries benefit from remittances. Crucially, we feel there is an ethical responsibility to help socioeconomically marginalized communities help their loved ones. Hence, we wanted to use technology as a means to include, not exclude and built an app that we hope could be versatile and inclusive to the needs of our user. We needed our app design to be helpful towards our user - allowing the user to gain all the necessary information and make bill payments easier to do across the world. We carefully chose product design elements that were not wordy but simple and clear and provided clear action items that indicated what needed to be done. However, we anticipated the following ethical issues arising from our implementation :

Data privacy: Remittance payment apps collect a significant amount of personal data from users. It is essential to ensure that the data is used ethically and is adequately protected.
Security: Security is paramount in remittance payment apps. Vulnerabilities or data breaches could lead to significant financial losses or even identity theft. Fast transfers can often lead to mismanagement in accounting.
Accessibility: Migrants who may be unfamiliar with technology or may not have access to smartphones or internet may be left out of such services. This raises ethical questions around fairness and equity.
Transparency: It is important to provide transparent information to users about the costs and fees associated with remittance payment apps, including exchange rates, transfer fees, and any other charges. We even provide currency optimization features, that allows users to leverage low/high exchange rates so that users can save money whenever possible.
Inclusivity: Remittance payment apps should be designed to be accessible to all users, regardless of their level of education, language, or ability. This raises ethical questions around inclusivity and fairness.
Financial education: Remittance payment apps could provide opportunities for financial education for migrants. It is important to ensure that the app provides the necessary education and resources to enable users to make informed financial decisions.

Conscious of these ethical issues, we came up with the following solutions to provide a more principally robust app:

Data privacy: We collect minimal user data. The only information we care about is who sends and gets the money. No extra information is ever asked for. For undocumented immigrants this often becomes a concern and they cannot benefit from remittances. The fact that you can store the money within the app itself means that you don’t need to go through the bank's red-tape just to sustain yourself.
Security: We only send user data once the user posts a request from the sender. We prevent spam by only allowing contacts to send those requests to you. This prevents the user from sending large amounts of money to the wrong person. We made fast payments only possible in highly urgent queries, allowing for a priority based execution of transactions.
Accessibility: Beyond simple button clicks, we don’t require migrants to have a detailed or nuanced knowledge of how these applications work. We simplify the user interface with helpful widgets and useful cautionary warnings so the user gets questions answered even before asking them.
Transparency: With live exchange rate updates, simple reminders about what to pay when and to who, we make sure there is no secret we keep. For migrants, the assurance that they aren’t being “cheated” is crucial to build a trusted user base and they deserve to have full and clearly presented information about where their money is going.
Inclusivity: We provide multilingual preferences for our users, which means that they always end up with the clearest presentation of their finances and can understand what needs to be done without getting tangled up within complex and unnecessarily complicated “terms and conditions”.
Financial education: We provide accessible support resources sponsored by our local partners on how to best get accustomed to a new financial system and understand complex things like insurance and healthcare.

Before further implementation, we need to robustly test how secure and spam-free our payment system could be. Having a secure payment system is a high ethical priority for us.

Overall, we felt there were a number of huge ethical concerns that we needed to solve as part of our product and design implementation. We felt we were able to mitigate a considerable percentage of these concerns to provide a more inclusive, trustworthy, and accessible product to marginalized communities and immigrants across the world.