MoneyGram, Vodacom give Tanzanians a new way to receive funds directly into mobile accounts

MoneyGram, a global provider of innovative money transfer and payment services, and Vodacom, an African mobile communications company, have announced that Vodacom subscribers in Tanzania will now receive money directly into their M-Pesa accounts through MoneyGram’s money transfer services.

As part of the partnership between the two companies, M-Pesa subscribers in Tanzania will now be able to receive funds from MoneyGram directly into their mobile accounts. This money can be sent from more than 120 countries, all around the clock.

Customers in the United States can send funds to M-Pesa accounts quickly and securely from a MoneyGram location or through MoneyGram Online.

Read more: M-Pesa users can now send money between Kenya and Tanzania

“This new relationship with MoneyGram enables us to tap into the remittances coming into Tanzania every year,” said Vodacom’s chief officer of M-Commerce, Jackues Voogt “It will increase the ease and ability for families and friends to receive money through M-Pesa. This is just one more way we are going the extra mile for our customers.”

The announcement was made in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Voogt said that this partnership will make it easier, safer and faster for the 7-million M-pesa users in Tanzania to send money directly. Each month, Voogt says, these users transact more than two trillion shillings each month.

In March this year, Vodacom Tanzania announced that M-Pesa customers in Kenya and Tanzania could send and receive money from each other at the same cost as sending it locally.
Vodacom has approximately 65% market share of mobile financial services in Tanzania.

Read more: South Africa’s mobile money adoption rates are about to explode

Herve Chomel, MoneyGram’s vice president regional sales Africa, says that “Vodacom’s M-Pesa has already helped to increase financial inclusion for millions in Tanzania and this new relationship will make it more convenient for people in the most remote parts of the country to receive money from friends and family abroad.”

According to Chomel, this partnership is MoneyGram’s strategy to grow throughout Africa, bringing added convenience to its customers. At the moment, MoneyGram operates in more than 200 countries with a network of more than 350,000 locations globally of which 25,000 are in Africa.

No more long queues and waiting for days for the money to arrive for Tanzanians. This is how the financial industry is being disrupted by mobile money.