You can now easily send, receive money around the world using M-pesa

Sending money to loved ones across the globe has now been reduced to just a few clicks thanks to a new partnership between Safaricom’s M-PESA and Western Union that enables customers to receive and send money to over 200 countries.

Named M-Pesa Global, the new service was launched in March this year in Nairobi. It will enable Kenyans to send and receive money from loved ones, business, medical and school fees from more than 80,000 Western Union Agent locations worldwide.

The deal, which is an enhancement of the existing partnership signed in March 2011 allowing the transfer of money through Western Union to M-Pesa following a successful pilot in the UK from December 2008, was signed on November 5, 2018.

M-PESA’s mobile wallet has revolutionized financial inclusion over a decade by enabling millions of Kenyans to receive money from abroad, store and send money or make payments locally, and leapfrog traditional infrastructure.

Cash transfers for M-Pesa Global have been capped at Sh70,000 per transaction with a daily limit of KSh140,000 in line with Central Bank of Kenya’s mobile money transfer rules.

The service will come in handy for customers who are needed to send small amount of money abroad directly from the phone such as student’s pocket money, online shopping especially from Dubai and foreigners working in Kenya who are needed to remit cash back home to their families on a regular basis.

The cash sent from M-Pesa will be collected from Western Union agents. Transfers to bank accounts are possible to clients in the United Kingdom, Germany and United Arab Emirates so far.

Safaricom will earn a minimum of KSh100 for remitting up to Sh5,000 to a Western Union agent abroad and KSh500 for more than Sh35,000.