Companies
Airtel subscribers will receive cash from 129 countries in the World Remit deal
Wednesday 22 September 2021
Customers outside an Airtel store in Mombasa. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Airtel has signed an agreement with WorldRemit that will allow its subscribers to receive money from 129 countries.
- The deal announced Wednesday will allow some 400,000 Airtel Money users to receive funds directly and free of charge to their mobile wallets.
Airtel signed an agreement with WorldRemit that will allow its subscribers to receive money from 129 countries, a move aimed at boosting the telecommunications company’s efforts to increase its share of the local money market.
The agreement announced Wednesday will allow some 400,000 Airtel Money users to receive funds directly and free of charge to their mobile wallets and make in-app payments for goods and services globally.
Countries covered by the deal with London-based fintech include the United States of America, which is the largest source of diaspora remittances to Kenya, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Australia.
The agreement marks Airtel’s push to increase customers on its mobile money platform by accessing new markets to increase its revenue and reduce the dominance of Safaricom’s M-Pesa, which has 50 million active users in Africa.
“Through this partnership, our clients are guaranteed comprehensive services around the world, without fear of cost. Airtel Money continues to offer fast, safe and affordable services to all Kenyans, ”said Airtel Kenya Managing Director Prasanta Das Sarma.
Airtel has already signed agreements with cash remittance companies MoneyGram and Mukuru.
The telecommunications company seeks to expand the subscriber base and use of its mobile money platform through partnerships with multiple financial services firms.
Airtel and Safaricom see mobile money as an opportunity for growth and diversification and have invested billions of shillings to develop new offshoots of their platforms’ main cash transfer and payment offerings.
“Mobile money continues to be one of Airtel Africa’s fastest growing business segments, with revenue growth of 30.4 percent in the first half of the year. [ended September]”Said the multinational at the beginning of this year.
“It is an increasingly important part of our business and currently represents 10.3 percent of our total revenue in constant currency.”