Vodafone UK and Citigoup Combing for Mobile Money Transfer

[vodamod]

Vodafone and Citigroup announce worldwide mobile financial remittance venture

Vodafone and Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking's Global Transaction Services business today announce their plan to launch a Vodafone-branded mobile-based international money transfer service targeting the global remittance market worldwide. The new service builds upon Vodafone's recent successful pilot of the M-PESA mobile money transfer service by its affiliate in Kenya, Safaricom.

It is anticipated that Vodafone customers in the UK will have the first opportunity to use the service to send money to Kenya on a trial basis and both parties plan to launch commercially, with a focus on Eastern European and Asian markets, such as Poland and India, in the near future.

The product being developed will allow the remitter and the beneficiary to choose from a range of options as to how the money is sent and received. The sender can initiate the transfer using either a mobile phone or a secure Internet website to give instructions on where to send the funds. The funds will be able to be received in a bank or through the receiver's mobile phone in the form of a voucher and secure PIN that will enable the receiver to redeem the cash at a wide range of outlets, typically the airtime distribution points operated by the in-country mobile network service provider. For these latter services, the beneficiary of funds does not need to have a bank account, will have a wide range of locations to collect the funds and only has to be in the possession of a mobile phone that can receive an SMS on any mobile network.

Enabling money to be transferred internationally from person to person using mobile technology is set to greatly assist the flow of funds from migrant workers back to their families.