Over 32 million M-PESA customers can now send and receive money to and from more than 200 million people across Bangladesh, Pakistan markets. The move follows a partnership between telco giant Safaricom and TerraPay (Mobex Kenya).

M-PESA customers will now send and receive money to Bangladesh and Pakistan through the M-PESA Global service under the M-PESA Super App or by dialling *334# and selecting M-PESA Global under the “Send Money” option. 

"This partnership opens up one of the world’s largest remittance markets making Kenyans more globally connected,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.

TerraPay joins a roster of more than 35 partners under the M-PESA Global service, which enables customers in Kenya to send and receive money and make and receive payments across 170 countries. 

Read also: Safaricom to set up new companies in growth push

Drive up remittances

Remittances have become an economic lifeline for thousands of households and businesses in Kenya and the government seeks to drive up remittances to $10 billion.

The deal with TerraPay will enable anyone in Kenya to send and receive money to and from over 200 million people across Bangladesh and Pakistan with M-PESA, explained Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

"Our partnership with Safaricom will further boost our capabilities in providing an inclusive global financial ecosystem with superlative technical solutions, cultivate an affinity by empowering Safaricom customers with fast and affordable borderless payment options and access to TerraPay’s widespread partner network of 4.5 billion bank accounts and 1.5 billion mobile wallets,” said Ambar Sur, Founder and CEO, TerraPay.

Over 917,000 consumers used the M-PESA Global service in Safaricom's financial year ended March, transacting more than Kes418 billion in over 31.8 million transactions. At the moment, over 90 percent of all remittances into Kenya are processed using M-PESA.

[email protected]