Bharti Airtel and Western Union have decided to jointly develop and pilot a Mobile Money
Transfer service in India. This
pioneering agreement will usher in the possibility of sending money to India via the mobile phone. Western Union agents presently provide cash
remittance services in India.
The relationship with Bharti Airtel developed follows a landmark agreement between Western Union and the GSM Association (GSMA), a global trade association representing over 700 GSM mobile phone operators, to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services. Bharti Airtel chairs the GSM Association’s Mobile Money Transfer steering committee, a group of 35 mobile network operators committed to development, trials and commercialisation of mobile remittance services.
“We are delighted to work with Western Union in this path-breaking initiative and be at the forefront of enabling international remittance over the mobile for our 50 million mobile phone customers in India. This will help us move remittances via the mobile in a fast and convenient way, supporting low-value transactions," said Gopal Vittal, director, marketing and communications, Bharti Airtel Limited.
According to The World Bank, the number of immigrants globally is in the region of 200 million -- approximately 3 per cent of the world''s population. The World Bank also identifies India as the number one remittance recipient market. Statistics from Reserve Bank of India suggest that the inward annual remittance into India stood at over $26 billion for the financial year 2006-2007, accounting for 10 per cent of global inward remittance market, which stands at $260 billion.
“Our association with Bharti Airtel for the Mobile Money Transfer service is an important step in expanding the range of Western Union global services to a new category of consumers across the country,” said Anil Kapur, managing director, Western Union. “This is a very exciting development, especially given the expanse and reach of mobile services in the Indian subcontinent.”