Telecom network operator Vodafone says M-Pesa, its mobile money transfer service, has more than 25 million customers in the world.
Active customers of M-Pesa increased 27.1 percent to 25.3 million in fiscal ended 31 March 2016 in telecom markets in Africa, Asia and Europe.
The double-digit growth in mobile money transfer service was fuelled by mobile money launches in Albania and Ghana and supported by a network of more than 261,000 agents in 11 countries, said Vodafone.
Vodafone achieved the significant growth in mobile money services due to innovations in features, alliances with government and partners.
Michael Joseph, Vodafone Group Director of Mobile Money, said: “Since 2007, M-Pesa has enhanced the lives and livelihoods of people without bank accounts, giving them access to essential financial services through their mobile phones.”
Features of Vodafone M-Pesa have undergone significant changes due to innovation last year.
Vodafone deals in mobile money market
Vodafone announced partnership with the Ministry of Social Development in Lesotho to pay welfare grants using M-Pesa. Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture is paying fertilizer subsidies using M-Pesa. In India, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission utilizes M-Pesa to enable financial inclusion for women’s groups and the National Rural Health Mission is using the service to disburse pre-natal health benefits.
Vodafone has launched M-Pesa smartphone app that enables Indian customers to use M-Pesa to pay for goods on Ebay, for taxis with TabCab and to book train tickets on India’s national railways. Enterprises including Walmart are using M-Pesa in India to improve cash management and business efficiency.
Vodafone launched a service enabling customers to convert airtime to M-Pesa credit to pay for emergency treatment in Lesotho. Community health workers across seven hospitals and 67 clinics managed by Partners in Health are paid using M-Pesa and international children’s charity World Vision pays a portion of employee salaries using M-Pesa.
Development agencies use M-Pesa to pay employee salaries and allowances in Mozambique. Water, electricity and pay television companies in the country collect payments via M-Pesa. The national carrier LAM also accepts M-Pesa for air tickets.
Solar solution companies including Mobisol, Off-Grid Electric, M-Kopa and others use M-Pesa to provide clean energy for rural households in Tanzania. Qatar Airways and KLM accept M-Pesa for air tickets from Tanzania.
Safaricom has partnered with healthcare finance organizations PharmAccess Foundation and CarePay to introduce M-Tiba, a mobile health wallet that channels money from donors and government meant for health services directly to recipients.
