M-PESA Global expands to Bangladesh and Pakistan through TerraPay partnership

Safaricom has partnered with TerraPay, a global payments infrastructure company, to enable its customers to send and receive money to Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The partnership will allow more than 32 million M-PESA customers in Kenya to access TerraPay’s network of 4.5 billion bank accounts and 1.5 billion mobile wallets in over 100 countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, which are among the world’s largest remittance markets.

The new service will offer M-PESA customers a fast, affordable and convenient way to send money to their friends and family in these countries, as well as to receive money from them.

To use the service, M-PESA customers can either download the M-PESA Super App or dial *334# and select M-PESA Global under the “Send Money” option. They can then choose the destination country, enter the recipient’s details and the amount to send. The recipient will receive the money in their bank account or mobile wallet instantly or within minutes.

The service will also benefit businesses in Kenya that trade with Bangladesh and Pakistan, as they can use M-PESA Global to make and receive payments across borders.

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said that the partnership with TerraPay will enhance the M-PESA Global service, which already connects customers to more than 170 countries. He said that remittances are an economic lifeline for many households and businesses in Kenya, and that the new service will make them more globally connected.

“Remittances have become an economic lifeline for thousands of households and businesses in the country, connecting them to opportunities and empowering our customers to transact conveniently and affordably around the world. We are therefore delighted to partner with TerraPay to enable anyone in the country to send and receive money to and from more than 200 million people across Bangladesh and Pakistan with M-PESA. This partnership opens up one of the world’s largest remittance markets making Kenyans more globally connected,” said Peter Ndegwa – CEO, Safaricom.

TerraPay Founder and CEO Ambar Sur said that the partnership with Safaricom will spur the development of mobile financial service operators, enabling them to scale globally and provide customers with secure, transparent and swift payment options. He said that TerraPay’s mission is to provide an inclusive global financial ecosystem with superior technical solutions.

In its last financial year to March 2023, Safaricom reported that more than 917,000 customers used the M-PESA Global service, transacting more than KES 418 billion in over 31.8 million transactions. M-PESA processed more than 90% of all remittances into Kenya during the period.