This new partnership has just been signed between the two companies to allow for broad scale M-Pesa signups.
Vodafone has now entered into a deal with Moneygram, a specialist in currency transfers, which will make it possible for users to exchange mobile payments from among 200 different countries to other users who are signed up for the M-Pesa service.
The rollout is now being scheduled to occur in phases, starting in the spring of 2014.
Once active, it will allow consumers to use mobile payments to add money directly into accounts with M-Pesa or to send money directly through transfers from one account to the other. This will be possible through the mobile apps or through the official Moneygram website. This will help to provide a service that the companies feel is greatly needed at the moment.
There is a demand that is currently unfilled for sending mobile payments to family and friends worldwide.
According to the director of M-Pesa at Vodafone, Michael Joseph, “There is huge demand for sending funds back to family and friends in your home market and an estimated $90bn2 per year is transferred to M-Pesa markets from around the globe.” He went on to say that this newly formed partnership that his company has established with Moneygram will now allow them to offer the broadest network, worldwide, as well as the most access points for consumers who are hoping to be able to send money to users of the M-Pesa service.
M-Pesa is already available in a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. These nations include India, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, and Fiji.
The purpose of this mobile payments service is to make it possible for “unbanked” individuals, that is, people who don’t have access to the traditional type of bank account, to be able to send money to one another through the use of their cell phones. This has made it especially popular throughout those regions of the globe and it is continuing to experience considerable use as well as growth, there.
The social network has launched a new application that is providing a far better experience.
The most recent mobile app that has been launched by Facebook, called Paper, is being applauded when compared to the previous application from the social network, which many people find to be far less engaging and far more frustrating.
The purely functional experience from the Facebook Home app has been replaced by visual appeal and ease of use.
With the release of Paper, Facebook has effectively exposed how unappealing its old application actually was and that it is capable of doing a great deal more with its mobile app. Paper is a kind of combination of the existing news feed on a user’s account with news stories and status updates from friends. It has eliminated menus and buttons in favor of more basic screen swipes. Instead of the standard form of the news feed, large images are available (which can be better seen with device tilts), status updates, and videos that auto-play.
This new mobile app also encourages more off-Facebook content consumption.
The reason that it can do this is that users can leave Facebook’s content to view other forms online without having to leave Paper. This can be accomplished by simply selecting the online media category that is preferred on top of the usual items on the news feed. Each of those elements can be seen in the same way as one would flip through a magazine. They include sports. Food, photography, and science, among others.
These new features in addition to a range of stylistic enhancements have made it obvious that Facebook is understanding how vital it is to break away from its older structure. It is trying to avoid the impression that it is aging – as Tuesday represents its tenth birthday. In internet time, the social network is virtually seen as ancient, so it is becoming critical that it remains cutting edge and keeps up its relevance to its users, no matter what device they prefer.
The Paper mobile app is also providing an additional opportunity for Facebook to display ads. It is believed that it won’t be long before users start to see lots of advertising working its way into the rest of the content that is being consumed.
