ENGLEWOOD, Colo. & DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Now, thanks to a new service from Western Union (NYSE:WU) and Vodacom Tanzania, consumers in Tanzania can get even more from their mobile phones.
With the launch of this service, friends and family members can visit one of more than 108,000 participating Western Union Agent locations in 65 countries worldwide and send money directly into the mobile wallets of any Vodacom M-Pesa subscriber in Tanzania for the first time. Receivers can use those funds to pay bills, top up airtime and cash out at more than 15,000 M-Pesa agents across the country.
“By joining forces with Vodacom Tanzania, we’re giving consumers a fast, reliable and innovative new way to send money across borders to their loved ones in Tanzania,” said Diane Scott, Chief Marketing Officer and President, Western Union Ventures. “The launch of this service joins our robust mobile money transfer offerings with some of the world’s biggest mobile operators and banks.”
Western Union continues to offer choice and convenience to consumers worldwide, and its mobile money transfer program allows people to send and receive funds how, where and when they want. The company is leading the way in mobile money transfer with its global infrastructure of more than 435,000 participating Agent locations in more than 200 countries and territories.
“Vodacom creates solutions for its customers through innovative services like the one we are launching today with Western Union,” said Rene Meza, Managing Director, Vodacom Tanzania. “M-Pesa usage in Tanzania has grown month on month, and there has been an outcry from our customers to introduce cross-border money transfer. We are proud to provide a solution that is only available on Vodacom M-Pesa.”
The introduction of the service is good news: According to the GSMA Africa Mobile Observatory 2011 report, Africa is now the second-largest mobile market in the world, with more than 620 million mobile users. Over the past 10 years, the number of mobile connections in Africa has grown an average of 30 percent per year and is forecast to reach 735 million by the end of 2012.
Vodacom M-Pesa first launched in 2008 and now has more than 9 million customers and handles more than a million transactions per day. It has become the preferred way of sending and receiving money for many Tanzanians. Vodacom M-Pesa provides its customers an affordable, fast, convenient and safe way to pay for numerous services such as utility bills, airtime recharge for prepaid, tax payment, long-distance bus fare payments and much more.
About Vodacom
Vodacom Tanzania Limited is Tanzania’s leading cellular network offering state-of-the-art GSM communication services to more than 10.5 million customers across the country. Vodacom Tanzania is a subsidiary company of Vodacom Group (Pty) Limited, South Africa. Vodacom Tanzania has deployed state of the art technology, thereby enhancing its product portfolio and positioning itself as the market leader for any communication solution. For voice, data, leased lines, PABX connectivity, international connectivity, WiMAX solutions, remote communication solutions over satellite or banking solutions, Vodacom Tanzania addresses the need.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of September 30, 2011, Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a combined network of approximately 485,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In 2010, The Western Union Company completed 214 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide, moving $76 billion of principal between consumers, and 405 million business payments. For more information, visit http://www.westernunion.com.
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