London-based online money transfer service, Azimo, has partnered with HomeSend, a joint venture created by MasterCard, eServGlobal and BICS, to launch mobile wallet services to Africa and the Asia-Pacific.
This service will kick off in ten countries including Armenia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria, according to a HomeSend news release.
Customers of Azimo, through HomeSend, will be able to send money directly to a mobile money account that is linked to a recipient’s mobile number. Proposition here being that, it’s a better alternative to sending funds via an over-the-counter agent or directly to a bank account.
“We’ve seen an increased desire for people to be able to safely send funds via mobile money accounts,” said Stephen Doyle, CEO of HomeSend. “Our partnership with Azimo adds to the tremendous reach of the HomeSend network.”
Remittances to mobile wallets is gradually gaining grounds. Paytoo and Western Union with its Tigo partnership are two remittance services that recently scaled up their activities to this model in Africa. The World bank has estimated that global remittance market will continue this year to a projected total of $586 billion according to HomeSend.
Image Credit: Azimo
