OREANDA-NEWS. Today at Mobile World Congress, HomeSend, the international payment and money transfer hub, announced the expansion of its global framework agreement with Vodafone Group for M-Pesa, including the launch of remittance 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.”

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About Vodafone Group

Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 57 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 31 December 2015, Vodafone had 461 million mobile customers and 13 million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.

About M-Pesa

The M-Pesa service was launched in March 2007 by Safaricom Limited in Kenya. It enables millions of people who have access to a mobile phone, but do not have access to a bank account, to send and receive money, top-up airtime, make bill payments and enjoy a range of other services.

M-Pesa had approximately 24.6 million active customers as at 31 December 2015 and approximately 236,000 agents worldwide. It is available in 11 markets:  Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mozambique, Egypt, Lesotho, Ghana, Albania and Romania.

About HomeSend

HomeSend is a joint venture created by MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS that enables B2B cross-border and cross-network value transfers through a single connection. It builds on the successful deployment of mobile enabled person-to-person transfers in emerging markets and the digitalization of money transfer services. The HomeSend service innovatively bridges the gap between finance and telecommunication service providers and enables consumers to send money to and from mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets – regardless of their location or that of the recipient. Contact us at: https://www.homesend.com/contact-us.