NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 6 – Mobile money users will from next week Tuesday directly send and receive money across three networks in a move that aims to cut the cost of moving money on different platforms.
In a statement, Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom say the launch of mobile money interoperability will allow customers more flexibility and convenience when carrying out their transactions.
Kenya joins 15 other countries across the world which have successfully implemented the wallet-to-wallet interoperability with users seamlessly moving mobile money across M-Pesa, Airtel Money and T-Kash.
Previously, the transfer of funds across networks was complex, costly and inconvenient.
A customer would receive an SMS from another network notifying them of money that had been sent. They would have to withdraw that money from the sender’s network and then deposit the same into their own wallet. If the recipient did not withdraw the funds within seven days, the money would be sent back to the sender.
The latest quarterly statistics from the Communications Authority reveals that mobile money subscriptions currently stand at over 25 million, placing Kenya on the global stage as a leader in mobile money penetration and usage.
“With such tremendous achievement, the move to launch mobile money interoperability can only be seen as another great step towards furthering financial inclusion,” reads the official statement.
