In a potentially groundbreaking development, MTN and Vodafone have announced that MTN Mobile Money and M-Pesa customers in East Africa will soon be able to transfer money to each other.
Vodacom and Safaricom users in Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique will be able to make international remittances with MTN users in Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia, and in reverse.
MTN and Vodafone have agreed to “share best practice and work together to define the rules and standards of mobile-based remittances in Africa”, the companies said in a joint statement.
“Our agreement with MTN to connect our mobile money wallets in East Africa is a fantastic example of co-operation and interoperability between competing mobile operators,” said Vodafone director of mobile money Michael Joseph.
“By working together, we will deliver cheaper, faster money transfers, improving the lives of many people living in the seven countries involved.”
Mobile money services have proved to be an enormous success in East Africa, particularly in Kenya where Safaricom pioneered the model with M-Pesa.
M-Pesa has also been a big success in Tanzania for Vodacom, a sister company of Safaricom. In both markets, traditional formal banking channels are not well developed. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media