Over 200 countries can send and receive money via Vodacom ’s Tanzania M-Pesa after the company announced the expansion of its International Money Transfer service portfolio.
Vodacom announced this recently at an international day of family remittances event held in Dar es Salaam where stakeholders met to deliberate on the future of International Remittance post COVID 19.
Speaking during a panel discussion on the same, Assistant Manager, Oversight and Policy at Directorate of National Payment Systems from Bank of Tanzania (BOT) Albert Cezari said the national bank has increased limits on digital transactions and reviewed balances of mobile wallets in a bid to provide relief and ensure continuity of services as part of measures taken amidst COVID-19.
Vodacom Tanzania PLC Managing Director Mr. Hisham Hendi, said that international remittances make possible people and small businesses to stay connected irrespective of geography. He further pointed out that international remittances continue to transform the lives of thousands of Tanzanians through facilitating payments in education, health, and various business segments which is why Vodacom M-Pesa has aimed to continue providing a platform for Tanzanian diaspora to effectively participate in socio-economic activities which will contribute to the overall development of the country.
“We pride ourselves for being enablers in the payment system by facilitating cross border trade within the region for the efficient and seamless sending and receiving of funds, from anywhere around the globe through M-Pesa International Money Transfer Service.’ He said.
Vodacom M-Pesa has broadened its portfolio of partnerships and countries over the past few months to widen its Money transfer service worldwide. At the global stage, partners include MoneyGram, WorldRemit, Remitly and JubaExpress, all of whom enable customers to receive money from over 200 countries across the World directly into their M-Pesa wallet.
Pan African partnerships include Safaricom, MTN, EcoCash and Mama Money, which enable customers to send or receive money from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Burundi and South Africa.
“With such a huge portfolio of international Money transfer partners, the world is a village with M-Pesa. We thank our customers for their patronage and we remain committed to deliver on our vision to lead Tanzania into the digital age and change lives through technology” he said.
Peter De Caluwe, CEO- Thunes praised the move saying such partnerships and innovations support the true African spirit because African countries have always been connected through daily movement of people, goods and services. International Money Transfer services are critical to the African economies as they facilitate inflow of foreign currency into these countries which has a direct bearing on the social and economic welfare of Africans”.
“Whilst the importance of mobile payments to financial inclusion in developing markets cannot be overstressed, the M-Pesa IMT service goes an extra mile by allowing previously excluded to send and receive money across borders affordably. Thus our partnership with Vodacom M-Pesa aims at increasing the reach of international money transfers’.
According to World Bank Figures, Tanzania recent remittances stood at $430 million, an increase of $25 million from 2019. The sum represents 0.8 percent of the country’s GDP.
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