As Safaricom Ethiopia prepares to launch M-Pesa in the country, the telco has now announced a Mobile Banking and Agency Partnership with Hibret Bank, one of the country’s leading banks.
The partnership which was announced on Tuesday will allow all M-PESA agents and customers in Ethiopia to deposit and withdraw cash across all Hibret Bank branches in the country. What this means is that Hibret Bank will act as a Super-Agent to synergize the Cash-in and Cash-out process of the numerous agents registered under Safaricom M-PESA in Ethiopia.
Hibret Bank’s customers will also enjoy the convenience of keeping up with their finances on Hibret Bank’s mobile banking USSD *811# and mobile app using their 07 Safaricom line. This includes customers having the option to seamlessly transfer money from their bank account to their M-PESA wallet and vice versa, pay bills, check their account balance, buy airtime and access other mobile banking services from the Bank.
Customers with a Safaricom line will be required to visit their nearest Hibret Bank Branch with a valid ID card to activate their Safaricom number on their Hibret account.
This partnership paves the way for the official launch of M-Pesa in the country. The company had indicated plans to roll out the mobile money service this year after being officially granted a mobile money license by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
With a population of more than 100 million people, Ethiopia is indeed a highly promising market for Safaricom M-Pesa. Ethio Telecom, the country’s largest operator has over 50 million subscribers.
In the period under review, Safaricom Ethiopia added close to 3 million customers and built a distributor network of over 114 outlets, delivered an award-winning premium quality network in 22 cities and regions; with close to 1300 network sites and over 900 staff, 81% of whom are Ethiopians.
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