A payment service company, MoneyGram, and Nigeria’s mobile money operator, e-Tranzact International Plc, are collaborating to make international money remittance service possible on mobile phones.
The new service, tagged ‘MoneyGram goes mobile’, has been inaugurated in Lagos.
According to a speech made available on Monday, the Business Development Manager, MoneyGram, Ms. Kemi Okusanya, said the mobile phone had come to stay and would become more powerful and integrated in the people’s lives.
This, she said, was the reason for the use of mobile phones to undertake financial transactions and achieve financial inclusion.
According to Okusanya, ‘MoneyGram Goes Mobile’ allows money sent from friends and associates abroad to be received instantly through mobile phones in Nigeria.
She said, “Remittances are key aspects of our financial sector and economy. Indeed, some estimates from the World Bank indicate that we get more in remittances from friends and family than all donor aids.
“We are proud to offer the first solution which couples remittances with mobile money. Working with the most solid mobile money partner in Africa, e-Tranzact, we deliver a solution that puts your remittance service on your phone.”
Okusanya, however, stressed that customers could still receive money through the conventional methods the company had created.
The Managing Director, e-Tranzact, Mr. Valentine Obi, said the new service marked a turning point in the way people receive money from associates and loved ones abroad, adding that customers might need not travel long distances and go through long queues to receive money.
According to him, MoneyGram and e-Tranzact are united to help people and businesses by providing affordable, reliable and convenient payment services.
He described the platform as secure, flexible and cost effective.
“We now have a solution that makes it possible for us to receive our money as soon as it is sent, even outside banking hours-at night, on weekends and on public holidays,” he said.