inwi money partners with WorldRemit & MFS Africa; launches international money transfer capability

By Pavithra R

inwi money, a subsidiary of inwi and global telecommunications operator in mobile money services has announced an expansion of its offering with the launch of an international money transfer service for its customers.

The new service is a result of a strategic collaboration between inwi money and WorldRemit, the global online money transfer service provider, as well as MFS Africa, a leading Pan-African FinTech which operates one among the biggest e-payment platforms in Africa.

The step marks MFS Africa’s first significant partnership in North Africa, which is home to approximately 2.9 mn migrants, and whose emigrants account for approximately 4.4% of the global migrant population. For these immigrants and emigrants, money transfers and international payments often play a crutial role in their day-to-day life, and MFS Africa’s digital payments hub can help them perform these financial transactions in a manner that suits them.

“Through our partnership with inwi money, MFS Africa extends its network to Morocco. Morocco is a key FinTech hub in Africa, thanks to its geographical position, economic and cultural influence, and active contribution to the continent’s growth. For many years it has welcomed foreign students and workers from across Africa, for whom money transfer is an essential everyday need. The partnership that we are launching with inwi money today will make this community’s lives easier, as well as for millions of Moroccans who wish to receive transfers from family and friends abroad. Today marks an important step in our mission to break down barriers to digital payments,” said Dare Okoudjou, CEO of MFS Africa.

Remittances in Morocco represent a significant source of money, with the last decade witnessing inbound transfers amounting to over 6% of GDP. This new collaboration will provide inwi money with access to MFS Africa’s interconnected payments platform of over 200 mn mobile wallets in Africa. It’s 500,000 clients will be able to easily make use of digital payments beyond their domestic market, receiving money from abroad. Through the partnership, once the money transfer is authorised by the sender via the WorldRemit platform, the recipient will recieve an SMS notification, and the transferred amount is directly credited to their inwi money account.

“Our partnership with inwi Money and MFS Africa sparks a great opportunity to widen the reach of our services, contributing to furthering financial inclusion in the North of the African continent. Offering a new way of receiving money into inwi’s wallet, WorldRemit provides an affordable, secure and fast money transfer service. Through this partnership we are able to facilitate access to remittances for Moroccans both at home and in the diaspora, from any one of WorldRemit’s 50+ countries across the globe,” said Awa Gueye, Head of Francophone West & Central Africa & Morocco at WorldRemit.

“The launch of this new service is a concrete result of our efforts to diversify the available payment methods in Morocco, to widen financial inclusion to encompass a greater number of Moroccans and to reduce dependency on cash transactions. inwi customers can now receive money from their loved ones abroad quickly and securely”, said Nicolas Levi, CEO of inwi money.

Inwi money is the mobile payment solution of the global digital operator inwi enabling customers to perform financial transactions in a simple, immediate and secure way. The firm’s mission is to play a significant role in financial inclusion in Morocco by driving transactions through a range of digital payments services.