Thursday, March 22, 2007

Send money via sms with your cellphone

Our devices are great for watching movies, listen to music, edit documents, review presentations, keep track of budgets using Excel, browse the web, send/receive emails, internet banking and a lot more. What about using these same devices to send money to loved ones across the world by simply sending a sms? This is the new trend and is possible in Kenya, for example. One might say that Paypal launched this service a while ago. The problem with Paypal is that every persons involved in the transaction need to have a Paypal account. With Safaricom, Vodaphone's carrier partner in Kenya, only the sender needs to have an account. Similar services have just been launched in Belgium too. Once you have your account, a simple sms to the recipient suffice. Basically this is how it works:

“Currently, customers of Safaricom, Vodaphone's carrier partner in Kenya, can register at any authorized M-PESA agent, put money into their account, provide a security question and then send a text message to a friend or family member. The recipient gets a PIN number and a message telling them to go to a Safaricom agent, where they can pick up their money. Only the sender needs to be a Safaricom customer.”
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