Uzochukwu Mbamalu is a cute-faced, last male child of the family. He grew up in rural Africa and amongst very competitive and aspirational older siblings; as such, he inherited some of their best traits, including an ambitious and creative mindset.
He is the favorite of every one of his siblings; and earned for himself some coveted pet names.
“Uzo” as he is fondly called, quickly developed a unique personality, and quite early in life, acquired the habit of tidying up the house – and doing the job better than anyone else. Moreover, he did it without being asked – unlike his older siblings who had to be “encouraged.” He also became the best sales person while helping out at his mother’s mini grocery store.
As is her routine, in the early morning, his mom would go to the wholesale market to stock up items for her makeshift store, and would return to the marketplace by noon. The period from early morning to noon meant that one of the kids had to set up and man the store while she was gone. It was no secret that Uzo summarily outperformed anyone else in sales at those times, and at all other times when he stood behind the counter as well. It was established from very early on that he was a natural salesman – both in terms of what he did, and also the things he did not do. He grew up to be as persuasive as he is charming.
Through a lot of political and economic uncertainties in the macro of Nigeria, and conquering the challenges of figuring out one’s place in a complicated society as a young man, Uzo started learning about the world and global economics. He was especially interested in emerging systems and technologies like blockchain and remittance systems.
Uzo started trading derivatives and crypto after his high school, and he picked up every lesson a trader could while figuring it out on his own. He sometimes made a profit, other times he suffered losses; over a short period of time he built up emotional calluses, and acquired an abundance of knowledge as to how different markets work beyond trading and profit, far into the minute functional details of such.
Around this same time, he embarked on traveling the world while always seeking a better understanding of how people of different countries view, use, and exchange currencies. He is currently a resident of the UAE, based in Dubai, where he enjoys the cosmopolitan atmosphere and being a stylish member of the local social scene. In other words, he has found his element and fits right in.
Uzo’s analytical observation revealed that access and convenience were the two driving factors behind commerce in most African states; people wanted to have better access to external markets and they desired to have easy, non-cumbersome ways of transacting. Uzo realized that financial growth would be the natural by-product of improved access to markets and greater convenience in the transaction process.
These interests culminated in his “light bulb moment” of creating the ecosystem/technological solution that is now Palremit, a fledgling new entree into the world of international finance.
Palremit
Palremit was born out of the desire to enable a low-fee, high-speed, easy and safe tool for international remittance. Since its birth, Palremit has evolved, and continues to evolve, to encompass other financial solutions and additional products.
Traveling and living abroad, there arose the need to send money and exchange currencies for varied purposes. Set out upon a hunt to find the most cost-effective, as well as the quickest way to remit money.
International wires were safe but slow and complex to set up; the fees, which included exchange rates, were often very high, and the processes themselves were often cumbersome and left lots to be desired.
Traditional money transfer solutions like WU and MoneyGram were relatively fast (relative to wire transfers, that is) but they were expensive, and even with their app solutions they could sometimes be difficult to use.
Personal money couriers not only sound like individuals involved in nefarious laundering, but the trust factor is always an issue, and they lack the protections that institutions can afford.
The core technological solution of Palremit solves all these challenges. It is available to users on all popular platforms including iOS, Android, and all modern web browsers.
Palremit is a product built for consumers who are looking to more efficiently participate in the global economy; its future evolution and growth path will continue to reflect that goal.