Unistream reduces commission for remittances sent to Tajikistan

The promo-tariffs take effect on December 6 and they will work until January 15, 2020, the Unistream press center said.  

Commission, previously 1%, will be set in mobile application during this period at 0.99 percent.  In partner banks, commission is reportedly set at 0.95 percent and in retail networks, commission is set at 1.5 percent.

Besides, the minim rate of commission for remittances in Unistream’s own network will be halved – from 100 rubles to 50 rubles for transfer of up to 5,000 rubles, the Unistream press center says.  

Recall, the National Processing Center for Remittance Management began operating in Tajikistan on December 3.  It means that all cross-border remittances without opening a bank account must be repaid through this Center.

The halt of payments through cash transfer companies followed unsuccessful negotiations between the National Bank of Tajikistan, or NBT, and representatives from the likes of MoneyGram, Contact, Western Union and Golden Crown that took place in Moscow on November 25.  The mentioned cash-wiring companies reportedly account for more than 90 percent of all remittances sent from Russia to Tajikistan.

The companies reportedly pleaded with the NBT to allow for a six-month postponement to further clarify the finer technical and regulatory details of the payment processing center.               

Tajik regulator representatives, however, said that the payment transfer companies had been given enough time to decide how to operate in future on the Tajik market.

Unistreatm is an international money transfer company and bank based in Russia.  The service was originally a department of Uniastrum Bank, but in 2006 became a separate company, with its own banking license.  Unistream has operations at 335,000 locations in over 100 countries.  

Since 2016, Unistream has been cooperating with the money transfer network Moneyto Ltd, which acquired the rights to use the Unistream Money Transfer trademark in the European Union.