Weeks after Vodafone which is Safaricom’s largest shareholder launched its first international money transfer corridor between Tanzania and Kenya through M-Pesa, Safaricom has now introduced cross boarder transfer for Tanzania and Kenya to carry out transactions through IMT Tanzania.
With International Money Transfer (IMT), Safaricom subscribers will be able to send cash from their phone through M-PESA across the two nations. To access this service, Safaricom Subscribers will be required to go to M-PESA and select Lipa na M-PESA. Select PayBill and enter business number 255255. Enter recipient’s mobile number as account number in the format 2557XXXXXXXX then Enter amount, M-PESA PIN and confirm the transaction.
You will receive an M-PESA notification confirming the status of the transaction. You will also receive an additional message from M-PESA IMT.
The funds transferred are delivered as Tanzanian Shillings and the conversion rates are revised daily at midnight. To check the applying rate, Dial *234# and select Tariff query, Select IMT Conversion (Tsh), Enter amount you want to convert in Ksh and Submit. There are no charges for receiving M-PESA from Vodacom Tanzania. However, all other M-PESA charges apply when you use the funds e.g. withdraw, send money, pay bills or Lipa Na M-PESA.
The introduction of the new crossboarder fees comes few months after MoneyGram partnered with Safaricom, to launch of a new remittance service that would will open up the possibility to tap into the over $1.7 billion sent home by Kenyans abroad every year.
The remittance service was launched by MoneyGram, a money transfer company based in US, and Kenya’s Safaricom.