At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, international payment and money transfer hub HomeSend announced the expansion of its global framework agreement with Vodafone Group for M-Pesa, including the launch of services into five new markets during 2016.
The two companies will work together to enable the real-time, mobile receipt of remittances by M-Pesa users in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Albania. In addition to Kenya, HomeSend has already launched connections for inbound remittances with M-Pesa in both Tanzania and Romania.
HomeSend continues to rapidly expand the reach of their network, with coverage expected to reach more than 70 markets in 2016. These will include 20 new Mobile Money markets, bolstering the interoperability of HomeSend’s network and providing their customers with the ability to send and receive remittances globally via a mobile phone.
Focused on broadening their network and service offering, HomeSend will provide a fast, safe and convenient way to receive remittances by enabling MasterCard payments cards to be used. Several markets are expected to go live with this solution throughout 2016.
Claire Alexandre, Head of M-Pesa Commercial and Strategy, Vodafone, said, “M-Pesa makes money mobile, now increasingly across borders too. We’re delighted to offer our customers more choice to send and receive money from other countries and networks. HomeSend connects them to an extensive global network, offering an affordable, secure and convenient solution for inbound digital money transfers.”
Stephen Doyle, CEO, HomeSend, said, “Vodafone is a pioneer in domestic mobile money services. HomeSend, as the leading global payments hub, remains a natural partner for Vodafone to connect their domestic deployments to users worldwide. We are thrilled to expand our work with Vodafone to bring all-important, cost-effective money transfer services to M-Pesa customers in even more countries.”
