Vodafone Group, the world's largest mobile phone group by revenue, launched a mobile money transfer pilot scheme between Britain and Kenya, aiming to increase its role in the growing industry and potentially boost customer loyalty.
The Britain-based group said it had agreed a deal with Safaricom, Kenya's biggest mobile phone company, and Western Union, a leading global money transfer service, as part of the scheme.
The service follows the success of M-PESA, a mobile money transfer service in Kenya offered by Vodafone and Safaricom which has drawn over four million customers since its launch in March 2007.
Vodafone said the service would allow customers to send remittances from Western Union stores directly to Safaricom mobile subscribers in Kenya, often in minutes. Those users can then either withdraw the money from one of 4 000 M-PESA agents in Kenya, or forward it on to another mobile phone.
The pilot scheme will initially be run from Reading in Britain.
Vodafone said there would be many benefits to the service in countries like Kenya, where few people have bank accounts and over 10 million people have mobile phones.
"The successful take-up of M-PESA in Kenya has clearly demonstrated the demand for easily accessible, secure cash payment services in emerging markets," said Nick Hughes, Vodafone's head of international mobile payments.
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