Sentbe & UN SDGs

Sentbe is conscious of linking its business and achievement to the context of social impact creation and producing rigorous evidence that will inform wider audience ranging from policy makers and businesses. In view of this, Sentbe considers the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) the right benchmark to measure and manage its impact. As Sentbe mainly targets migrants and SMEs, the two goals appear to be relevant: Goal 10 and 8.

The Goal 10 addresses inequalities not only within a country but also among countries. In this regard, migrant remittances are covered and a sub-goal is set to reduce to less than 3 percent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 percent (Goal 10.c). The Goal 10 also carefully views migration cost borne by migrants and aims to facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration (Goal 10.7). The Goal 8 is about sustained and inclusive economic growth and one of its sub-goals is to encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through access to financial services (Goal 8.3).

As for the Goal 10.c, Sentbe's remittance service fee is 1.2 to 1.5 percent of total remittance amount while banks' commission rate is observed as about 8%. Sentbe, therefore, directly contributes to achieving the target of less than 3 percent. Given its total aggregated transaction volume of USD 382 million, Sentbe users have saved approximately USD 26 million by using Sentbe service instead of banks' one. This saving can be also interpreted as increased disposable income.

Sentbe also serves as a financial service platform sharing with users the information on reasonable and affordable financial products and services - long-term savings, group savings, migration debt advanced redemption, housing loan, agriculture finance, and business loan, etc. - available both in Korea and their home countries. By referring to the given information, they can connect their remittance funds to them, thereby building their own financial resilience.

As mentioned in the earlier post, Sentbe's B2B solution helps MSMEs lower cross-border remittance and/or payment cost by 70%, eliminate the potential loss of USD 6.4 billion incurred due to currency volatility, and improve work efficiency by reducing redundant workloads. This aspect is directly connected to the Goal 8.3.