Ooredoo brings Mobile Money to Sri Lanka with MoneyGram partnership

Qatar based Telecom Company Ooredoo has partnered with MoneyGram to offer mobile money transfer services in Sri Lanka.

The service called Ooredoo Mobile Money is free for sign up, and links customers with 28 local banks and over 1,500 MoneyGram posts spread throughout Sri Lanka.

Given the under banked nature of Sri Lanka, the mobile wallet can be loaded with cash at any Ooredoo self-service machine or Ooredoo shop. Once funds are sent to the recipient, they receive an 8 digit MoneyGram code to be redeemed at supporting locations. Bank transfers are automatically credited to the recipients account.

There is the option to transfer funds internationally to any of MoneyGram’s 339,000 locations located in over 200 countries, including the Philippines, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and others. The international transfers do require account numbers, the recipient’s name, and the bank name only once to start transferring money directly from their mobile to a country of their choice.

Services like Ooredoo Mobile Money have become popular in emerging markets like Sri Lanka. The either non or under banked communities are always looking for solutions to help them transfer money whether as remittance or to pay for goods and services. Another similar service M-Pesa has become extremely popular in Africa allowing for money transfers and purchases from supporting merchants with the use of SMS text messages.