Vodafone launches M-Pesa technology in India

Vodafone's Indian division on Wednesday announced that it, together with ICICI Bank, has launched its M-Pesa technology, a mobile money tranfer and payment service, in India, giving 700m people access to conventional banking.

M-Pesa, which has 17.3m active customers across eight countries, enables users to pay money into any bank account in India, transfer money, pay utility bills, and deposit / withdraw money from designated outlets through simple technology.

Marten Pieters, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone India, said: "For millions of people in India, a mobile phone is a bank account, a front door to a micro-business or a lifeline to people in the remotest areas.

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"Research shows that M-Pesa brings real benefits to users in their daily lives, saving three hours a week of their time and around three dollars in money transfer costs - a significant amount to people in some areas.

"In partnership with ICICI Bank, we will provide people in remote areas with a convenient way to bank, transfer money and make payments in a safe and secure manner. We have customised our offering to serve the needs of Indian customers while ensuring its compliance with all applicable regulations.

"Financial inclusion is a national priority and we believe that with M-Pesa, we now have the ideal offering to enable this."

Vodafone's share price had edged 0.03% lower to 189.85p by 12:45 Wednesday.

NR