In a move set to make mobile money disruptive, Orange Money and Airtel have signed a deal that will Orange Money customers in Côte d’Ivoire to send money to customers of Airtel Money in Burkina Faso, and vice versa for the first time, ever.
This is not the first time Orange is doing this. The platformalready enables Orange Money customers based in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali to carry out cross-border money transfers since July 2013, serving over 200,000.
According to Thierry Millet, Orange’s Senior VP Mobile Financial Services and NFC, “Following the successful launch of Orange Money International Transfer between Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, we want to develop new ways to allow our customers to send and receive money between countries in the West African Economic and Monetary Union. We are very happy to launch this service between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, which meets one of the region’s biggest needs.”
The service is expected to enable Orange Money customers to easily use their mobile phones to transfer electronic money in real-time. The customer simply connects to his or her Orange Money account on their mobile phone, and enters the recipient’s number and the amount to be sent. Funds are then immediately available in the mobile wallet of the beneficiary, who can then pay bills, purchase goods or make transfers from wherever they are, or make a withdrawal at any nearby Orange Money distribution point. The same applies to Airtel customers based in Burkina Faso using their own mobile wallets.
Orange Money is available in 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East and currently has over 13 million customers.