Orascom Telecom and Western Union form alliance
By Rebecca Wanjiku, IDG News Service\Nairobi Bureau
21 Oct, 2008
21 Oct, 2008
The lucrative money-transfer market is set to take a new shape with an alliance between Western Union and Orascom Telecom, allowing for the use of mobile phones to remit money in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Orascom Telecom and Western Union plan to introduce mobile remittance services in order to make low-principal, high-frequency remittances more convenient to the millions of customers who send money every day.
Once connected to Western Union's service, mobile operators will use their own "mobile wallet" software to enable person-to-person mobile money transfers over Western Union's global remittance network.
"Orascom Telecom mobile networks are in areas with high populations of people who have limited access to financial services," said Naguib Sawiris, Orascom chairman and CEO. "We believe this alliance -- supported by our current mobile subscribers throughout the Middle East, Africa and South Asia -- presents an effortless method to bring financial services to many of the world's families for the first time."
Several of the countries in which Orascom Telecom operates are among the top receivers of remittances in the world, noted Gail Galuppo, Western Union executive vice president and chief marketing officer. According to the World Bank, for example, Bangladesh received US$6.6 billion in remittances in 2007, Pakistan received $6.1 billion, and Egypt received $5.9 billion.
Orascom Telecom was established in 1998 and operates Banglalink in Bangladesh, Djezzy in Algeria, Mobilink in Pakistan, Mobinil in Egypt, Telecel Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe and Tunisiana in Tunisia. The company has a combined total of 77 million subscribers
Western Union maintains the largest global money transfer agent network, with more than 355,000 locations in over 200 countries and territories.
The agreement with Orascom Telecom is part of a pilot program by Western Union and the GSM [Global System for Mobile Communications] Association to facilitate the development of a cross-border mobile money transfer service.