Vodafone has launched Mpesa transfer services between Tanzania and Kenya. A service which it says will see M-Pesa customers from East Africa’s two biggest economies can now use their mobile phones for simple, safe and secure money transfers between countries via an established, combined network of 180,000 agents.
With this lauch, M-Pesa customers from the two countries will benefit from the low-cost of M-Pesa against existing international remittance services between the two countries.
“With a substantial unbanked population transacting mainly in cash, the Tanzania-Kenya corridor represents a significant opportunity for M-Pesa to give people and companies an accessible, low-cost alternative to traditional international remittances,” Michael Joseph, the Vodafone Director of Mobile Money said.
According to the World Bank, Formal remittances between Tanzania and Kenya were around $133 million in 2012. This first international money transfer corridor could just be a new chapter in the continuing growth of Mpesa.
As at 31 December 2014 M-Pesa had approximately 250,000 agents with about 19.5 million active customers worldwide. M-Pesa services continue to grow and are currently available in nine markets: Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mozambique, Egypt, Lesotho and Romania.
“Enabling transactions between Kenya and Tanzania will make it more convenient for individuals to transact across borders and unleash the transformative power of a first of its kind cross-border payment system.” Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO said.
