Online money transfer service, Azimo has launched in Kenya to allow users its users in Europe to send cash to M-Pesa’s 19 million subscribers in Kenya just days after MoneyGram announced a similar move.The new deal will see residents of the UK and Eurozone, including Italy, Ireland and Germany send cash directly to their friends and family’s M-PESA wallets instantly or to participating ATMs.
In a statement, Michael Kent, CEO of Azimo said: “We are delighted to be working with M-PESA to expand our global money transfer network. Africa has long been at the forefront of mobile money and our new service will allow us to help our customers hold on to more of their hard-earned cash.”
Azimo’s launch comes days after MoneyGram and Safaricom’s M-Pesa have announced that their international money transfer services will start next month in Kenya to allow the diaspora to send money direct to the mobile wallets of Kenyans back at home. The MoneyGram and M-Pesa deal will see consumers conduct person-to-person money transfers to and from other countries. The money can be collected at any country where MoneyGram is available without the need of a banking account.
