Telecom Lead Africa: Mobile service provider MTN Group
and Western Union Company have started mobile money transfer service in Uganda.
The mobile money transfer service enables MTN customers
to send and receive money across borders using their mobile phones for the
first time.
The service from Western Union allows the more than 2
million customers of MTN’s mobile money transfer service, Mobile Money, in
Uganda to add funds to their accounts that were sent through Western Union’s
system.
Senders send the funds either in-person at 450,000
Western Union Agent locations in 200 countries and territories, from westernunion.com in 22
countries or directly from a bank account in select countries. The receiver of
the funds chooses to pull the transaction into a MTN Mobile Money account.
Western Union and MTN will also provide 9,000 branded
mobile Yellow Phones to Ugandans. Customers who receive these phones must
already have an active MTN Mobile Money account or sign up for one to use the
new remittance service.
Western Union is changing quickly and we are leading the
way in bringing international remittances to mobile subscribers around the
globe,” said Diane Scott, executive vice president, Chief Marketing Officer and
President, Western Union Ventures.
We currently have more than 2 million Mobile Money
customers, and we continue to grow exponentially. By joining forces with
Western Union, our customers can now receive funds directly in their MTN Mobile
Money accounts quickly and easily. MTN looks forward to expanding this offering
in new countries with Western Union,” said Christian de Faria, MTN Group Chief
Commercial Officer.
MTN has deployed its Mobile Money service in 12 markets,
including Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Rwanda. Following the launch of
the Mobile Money transfer in Uganda, MTN and Western Union plan to introduce
the service in other countries where Mobile Money is offered, and where
regulation permits international remittance.
Western Union, WIND to Launch Mobile Money Transfer service in
Italy
WIND, one of the largest mobile operators in Italy and
the EU, announced partnership with Western Union to offer mobile payment services
to its customers. The partnership will benefit WIND’s 21 million subscribers
who will be able to conveniently send Western Union money transfer transactions
directly from their phones using WIND’s suite of services including apps and
SMS.
