Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom has launched an international component of the M-Pesa mobile phone-based money transfer service.
Thus, M-PESA customers in Kenya will now be able to receive money from people in the UK directly into their mobile banking accounts. The initiative follows a pilot project rolled out by the company in partnership with three agents, namely Western Union, Provident Capital Transfers and KenTv. A total of 19 UK outlets were involved in the pilot, covering areas with a high number of Kenyans, such as Reading, London, Luton, Wembley & Glasgow.
In order to use the service, the sender will provide the agent with the recipient’s name, Kenyan mobile number and the amount of money being sent in GBP currency. After the exchange rate conversion to Kenya Shillings is done at the prevailing rate, the agent will send the Kenya Shillings directly to the recipient's M-PESA account. The maximum amount that can be sent internationally per transaction via M-PESA is GBP 250.
The M-PESA customers can withdraw money at 12,000 M-PESA agents across the country, as well as use M-PESA to pay bills, buy airtime and to perform local money transfers.
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