More than 28 Million M-PESA Wallet Holders
Can Send Money to Western Union’s Worldwide Pay-Out Network
Safaricom (NSE: SCOM), Kenya’s leading mobile network operator
and provider of M-PESA, a leading mobile wallet, and the Western
Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in cross-border and
cross-currency money movement, have joined forces again—this time
to unlock global money transfers for more than 28 million mobile
wallet holders, by leveraging the Western Union® global money
movement platform.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181107005336/en/
In a global first, Western Union will power Safaricom to scale
money transfers to more than 200 countries and territories. M-PESA
Global, a newly optimized feature will allow customers to send
money from their wallet for pay-out across the Western Union retail
Agent network or directly via Western Union’s access to billions of
accounts.
M-PESA’s mobile wallet has revolutionized financial inclusion
over a decade by enabling millions of Kenyans to receive money from
abroad, store and send money or make payments locally, and leapfrog
traditional infrastructure. M-PESA wallet holders already have the
option to receive money from around the world via Western
Union.
“Western Union’s global money transfer engine is powering
Safaricom’s electronic M-PESA wallet to send and receive money
globally, while customers can choose our multi-channel network to
pay-out across the world. It is a unique integration of our
platforms to scale global connectivity and we commend Safaricom for
breaking new boundaries,” said Odilon Almeida, President, Western
Union Global Money Transfer.
“We believe this breakthrough collaboration with Safaricom will
spur a world of new possibilities for mobile financial service
operators to directly scale globally and provide customers with
choice to send or receive money to and from more than 200 countries
and territories. It will become a model for opening a world of
global connectivity and economic opportunity for emerging as well
as developed economies,” said Almeida.
Safaricom has helped millions of Kenyans establish financial
services on mobile wallets within Kenya. More than 1.7 billion
transactions are processed over M-PESA annually, equivalent to more
than 50 percent of Kenya’s GDP value.
“By opening up M-PESA to the world, we aim to enable a world of
opportunity for Kenyans by making it easy and seamless for them to
connect with the world,” said Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Chief Financial
Services Officer at Safaricom.
“With M-PESA Global, Safaricom customers enjoy the benefits of a
globally connected world at the touch of the button, whenever and
wherever they want to. The world is at their fingertips, whether
they are sending money to a loved one overseas or receiving money
from abroad.
“M-PESA Global reflects the evolution of customer needs in Kenya
and Safaricom’s ability to anticipate and meet these needs – from
facilitating inbound money transfers, domestic transfers across
wallets, to now offering outbound, cross-border money transfers by
connecting to the Western Union money transfer ecosystem,” said
Lopokoiyit.
Western Union sees traditional remittance receiving countries as
an opportunity to become remittance sending countries, including:
China, Philippines, Mexico, Kenya. It reflects rising affluence and
globalization of the native population as well as an increase in
international workers and their associated need to send money
abroad for a host of reasons, including education, travel and other
personal expenses.
Kenya, a net remittance receiver at USD $2 billion, last year
saw a 13 percent year-over-year rise in 2017, according to the
World Bank. During the same period, outbound remittances topped USD
$36 million, tracking similar growth rates, at 13 percent.
Customers in Kenya can access the new service by dialing *840#
or by selecting “M-PESA Global” under the M-PESA menu on
mySafaricomApp.
Safaricom and Western Union video with sub-titles
About Western Union’s Cross-Border Platform
Western Union’s cross-border, cross-currency money movement
platform – including a robust digital footprint, settlement,
treasury and compliance infrastructure, a vast global retail
network of over half a million locations, and the ability to send
money to billions of accounts and mobile wallets – sets the
standard for international money movement. With operations in more
than 200 countries and territories, Western Union’s platform
processed an average of 32 transactions every second and moved $300
billion in principal across 130 currencies in 2017.
Connecting the digital and physical worlds of money, Western
Union’s technology stack, APIs, foreign exchange and settlement
engine, agent network, anti-money laundering and fraud detection
capabilities make it one of the largest digital and physical money
movers for consumers around the globe. The company offers digital
transactions in more than 50 countries and territories.
Approximately 70% of Western Union’s digital transactions globally
now originate on mobile devices.
For more information, visit the Western Union newsroom.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in
cross-border, cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel
platform connects the digital and physical worlds and makes it
possible for consumers and businesses to send and receive money and
make payments with speed, ease, and reliability. With our global
reach, Western Union moves money for better, connecting family,
friends and businesses to enable financial inclusion and support
economic growth. For more information, visit
www.westernunion.com.
About Safaricom
Safaricom transforms lives. We provide voice, data, financial
services and enterprise solutions for a range of customers, small
businesses and government, using a variety of platforms. We delight
over 29.9 million customers, providing over 200,000 touch points
for our customers and offering over 100 different products under
our portfolio. Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and with
annual revenues in excess of KES 200 Billion, Safaricom invested
KES 38 billion in infrastructure this year, providing over 91% of
Kenya’s population with 4G and 3G coverage and providing 2G
coverage to 96% of Kenyans. Safaricom has harnessed its proprietary
fiber infrastructure to build a dedicated enterprise business,
which provides managed I.T. services to clients in the East African
region.
Safaricom pioneered commercial mobile money transfer globally
through M-PESA, the most successful service of its kind anywhere in
the world. Launched in March 2007, M-PESA now has over 21 million
active customers and over 162,800 M-PESA Agent outlets
countrywide.
WU-G
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181107005336/en/
Western Union contacts:Pia
De Lima, +1 954-260-5732pia.delima@wu.comorIngrid Sahu, +971 4 437
3656ingrid.sahu@wu.comorSafaricom
contacts:Safaricom PR & Corporate Communications+254
722 005 211prcomms@safaricom.co.ke
Bull Usd Vs Cty (LSE:SCOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Bull Usd Vs Cty (LSE:SCOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024