Mali, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire will be having a first from Orange, international money transfer, mobile on mobile. The product named “Orange Money International Transfer” will be available to Orange subscribers across the three countries. Users will require to dial #144# and enter the recipient’s Orange number and amount to be sent. The money is immediately available to the recipient for purchases and withdrawals from any Orange Money Distributor. Users will be able to send to users who don’t have Orange money subscription and they can proceed to open their accounts for free.
“In launching Orange Money International Transfer today, several months of work to simplify life for our customers come to fruition. We are proud to be the first operator to offer customers the ability to make international money transfers between mobile phones in this area of Western Africa,” says Thierry Millet, Director of the strategic NFC and payment program at Orange.
The three countries exchange around EUR 200 million in mobile money transfers yearly and this is quite the opportunity for Orange if the service is adopted. Orange is positioning this service telling subscribers they need not carry cash as they can have it sent to them on their mobile phone. International mobile money transfer is a first in West Africa.
Orange aims to expand the service to other African countries where it’s present. Currently Orange Money has 7 million customers.
