MTN and leading airtime remittance services provider, TransferTo, have teamed up to offer international mobile top-up services to customers across borders via TransferTo's global network.
International mobile top-up is a cost-effective complement to cash remittances that enables instant and convenient small value transfers in the form of prepaid mobile credits.
Money transfer companies, including other businesses targeting migrant populations - such as mobile operators, retailers and financial institutions and telecoms providers - offer this remittance service to their customers who find it to be an ideal low-cost, high-value gift.
MTN's vast footprint spans 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East, connecting more than 150 million mobile subscribers in markets where a significant number of prepaid customers have relatives living and working abroad.
TransferTo operates a global airtime remittance network which will enable MTN's 21 operations to reach emigrants and meet their growing demand for reliable and always-available airtime transfer services.
The service is available through various channels, including at www.TransferTo.com or via major sending partners in countries such as the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Already, the service allows a mobile subscriber in France to top-up his cousin's MTN Congo prepaid account via SMS, or a Nigerian residing in London to transfer airtime to an MTN Nigeria phone from her mobile or via www.TransferTo.com.
It will soon enable Yemeni citizens in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or the UAE to remotely send credits to MTN Yemen prepaid users, Afghan nationals living in the US and Canada to instantly top-up MTN Afghanistan prepaid accounts.
Eric Barbier, TransferTo's CEO is "delighted to partner with the MTN Group to extend the deployment of airtime remittance services across the mobile operator's 21 markets, each of those being a major addition to the TransferTo network".
"International Top-Up will greatly benefit migrant populations originating from countries in which MTN operates as they will now enjoy a unique way to send gifts and get closer to their loved ones back home," said Barbier.
Christian de Faria, MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, said the partnership with TransferTo confirms MTN's commitment to deliver services that meet users' needs in its markets and beyond.
"TransferTo's global footprint in key Diaspora markets provides the missing link that enables MTN to reach emigrants and deliver to them a service that is adapted to suit their specific needs.
About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: "MTN." As of 30 April 2011, MTN recorded 149 million subscribers and subsequently passed 150 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
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