Mobile operators MTN and Bharti Airtel have announced a cross border remittance partnership, allowing customers of both networks to transfer money between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.
The partnership will allow MTN customers in Ivory Coast and Airtel customers in Burkina Faso to transfer money between the neighboring countries.
“Until now, moving money between the two countries was mired by high fees, high usage of informal channels and a lack of proximity to withdraw money,” MTN said in a statement.
“MTN has reached a great level of adoption of Mobile Money in Ivory Coast, and Airtel has done the same in Burkina Faso. With a sizeable community of Burkinabe working in Ivory Coast and sending money back to their home country, the partnership will greatly enhance the Mobile Money service for customers in both countries,” said Pieter Verkade, MTN Group chief commercial officer (CCO).
“This is the first cross-border mobile to mobile remittance service in West Africa and it has been designed to eliminate current pains associated with remitting funds between both countries while offering best-in-class security that protects the “sweat” of hard working Burkinabes that want to remit funds back home to their loved ones,” said Chidi Okpala, Airtel Africa Group Director for Airtel Money.
MTN recently partnered with Ecobank in order to expand its services to MTN Mobile Money users who are also Ecobank customers in 12 countries.
The operator said subscribers would be able to withdraw cash from Ecobank ATMs and transfer money between their Mobile Money and Ecobank accounts.
The company experienced difficulties affecting its Rwandan operations last year when upgrading its mobile money platform, causing difficulties for agents and clients, with several businesses unable to deposit, send or receive money for three days.
