June 2014
mHITs has announced that it’s Australian SMS mobile wallet service has expanded its international mobile remittance to include M-PESA users in Kenya.
View full media releasemHITs (pronounced Em-HITS), a pioneering developer and operator of mobile payment services, has announced that it’s Australian SMS mobile wallet service has launched an international mobile remittance corridor between Australia and leading mobile money service M-PESA in Kenya.
For the first time, this new corridor will provide for instantaneous direct mobile-to-mobile funds transfers between Australia and Kenya. The service also offers one of the lowest rates for remittance in the market with a 1st time transaction fee from as little as $2.50*.
“The mHITs Remit micro-remittance service allows people in Australian to send money safely and conveniently to partner mobile wallet operators in other countries simply by sending an SMS including GLOBE GCASH and SMART Money in the Philippines, MTN Mobile Money in Ghana and now M-PESA in Kenya” says mHITs CEO Harold Dimpel. “Unlike traditional international remittance methods, the mHITs Remit service provides very low fees and instantaneous transfer of funds directly to a recipient’s mobile money account without requiring a transfer agent or bank,” he continues.
M-PESA is a leading mobile money transfer and payment service available from Vodafone and its partner, Kenya’s Safaricom. The revolutionary service offers a simple, low-cost and secure way for customers to conduct a cross section of monetary transactions via a mobile phone.
“Standing at an average of USD 109 million a year, diaspora remittances are a big contributor to the Kenyan economy, yet sending money back home remains a hugely costly affair. By taking advantage of leap frog technologies such as M-PESA and mHITs’ mobile wallet, this partnership will provide both the senders in Australia and the recipients in Kenya with a convenient and affordable channel through which to send and receive money,” said Ms. Betty Mwangi-Thuo, General Manager, Financial Services, Safaricom Limited.
Through mHITs, senders can conveniently perform a transaction from their mobile phone at any time and require only the mobile number of the recipient in order to send money. Recipients automatically receive an SMS notification as soon as funds are credited to their mobile money account. The recipient can access the funds instantly and securely from their mobile money account directly or depending upon their region, may also withdraw funds in cash via an agent or ATM. Recipients do not need a bank account or to locate a transfer agent in order to access funds.
mHITs is one of the first mobile money operators in the world to provide a micro-remittance service. People living in Australia can send money instantly and conveniently by mobile phone to their relatives and friends living in Kenya by having funds credited immediately to their M-PESA mobile money account. For more information on the mHITs Remit service see www.mhits.com.au/send-money.
For more information on the mHITs Remit service see www.mhits.com.au/send-money.
* effective net fee assuming an AUD 50.00 remittance with $5 sign-on bonus used to offset $5 fixed fee
about mobile international remittance
Mobile technology lowers the cost of remittances as it removes the need for physical points of presence and ensures a timely and secure method of transaction. The World Bank estimates that reducing remittance commission charges by 2-5% could increase the flow of formal remittances by 50-70%. Reducing the cost of sending each individual remittance encourages the delivery of lower value remittances, at values far less than today’s average transfer of US$200.
Mobile communications can also drive significant growth of the formal remittance market and has the potential to vastly improve and transform access to remittance funds for people in developing countries. The GSMA forecasts that the formal global remittance market could grow from around US$300 billion today to over US$1 trillion in five years with the help of mobile communications.
For more information visit www.gsma.com.
about M-PESA
The M-PESA service was launched in March 2007 by Safaricom Limited making Kenya the first country in the world to implement a successful mobile money transfer service. The award winning service has grown from over one million customers in its first year to 15 million active customers^ and nearly 80,000 outlets countrywide as at September 2013. The system handles KES 94.8 B of real time payments per month.
From the initial ‘send money home’ service, the service offering has expanded to facilitate airtime top-up, bill payment, salary disbursements, Bank to M-PESA services and international money transfer.
In November 2012, Safaricom Limited, in partnership with Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) launched M-Shwari, a service which allows M-PESA customers to save money and get micro loans through their mobile phones at competitive market rates.
In June 2013, M-PESA launched the Lipa Na M-PESA a service aimed at making M-PESA a primary tool of transaction. In June 2013, M-PESA launched the Lipa Na M-PESA service enabling customers to pay for goods and services. For more information visit www.safaricom.co.ke.
Vodafone is working with local partners to provide the M-PESA service in a number of other countries including Egypt, India, Romania and Tanzania.
The Safaricom M-PESA service is the world’s largest and most successful mobile money service for the unbanked. Developed and operated by Safaricom, last year Kenyans used M-PESA to send the equivalent of more than three times the World Bank’s estimated value of remittances flowing into the country. The service is used regularly by more than 15 million customers, generating more than 165 million transactions per month.
For more information visit www.safaricom.co.ke.
^ active within the last 30 days
about mHITs
mHITs (pronounced Em-HITS) is an Australian based developer and operator of mobile payment services. In Australia, mHITs operates the mHITs SMS payment service that allows consumers to send and receive payments by SMS text message.
mHITs is also working in emerging markets in the design, deployment and operation of mobile payment solutions for the so called “unbanked” (people who do not have access to traditional banking services).
Use of the mobile phone as a payment device is acknowledged as a logical payment solution for the unbanked as people in developing countries often lack the formal identity requirements that traditional banking services require such as a birth certificate, formal address or regular employment or income. The lack of bank branches, limited number of ATM’s, limited access to the Internet and the general low level of financial literacy in developing countries are contrasted by the large-scale uptake of mobile phones in these same markets.
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