The mobile money revolution in Africa has made people send money across geographical borders. It is one of the best innovations we have had in the continent and there is still room for growth and extensibility of the product.
Enter Bitwala, the company that is focused on blockchain banking announced that they are now allowing people to send bitcoins to Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda using mobile money transfer methods.
In the case for Kenya, they are using M-PESA, which has become famous worldwide for being the poster child for mobile money transfer. It has a very high adoption rate in Kenya where for example 96% of Nairobi residents have at least one M-PESA account.
The interesting thing is that they say that sending money will be free! All you have to do is:
- Sign up for Bitwala or if you have an account, just log in to Bitwala.
- Click on send money and create a new recipient
- Choose Mobile Money and select the payout currency of your choice
- Fill the recipient details and amount. An invoice will pop out at check out where you can pay in bitcoins
- Go to the dashboard to check your payment status.
This is great news for people who have some Bitcoins they received or mined and they would like to send it directly to their MPESA accounts. When you check out the website, this feature is available to new users if you are verified to level 2 (they require a passport and proof of address) so don’t be surprised if you do not see the option.
