In a move designed to streamline cross-border funds-transfers in the South Pacific, mobile funds-transfer service Vodafone MPAiSA Fiji on Sept. 9 announced new capabilities enabling consumers from Australia and New Zealand to send funds to anyone in Fiji with a Vodafone mobile phone.
Vodafone’s MPAiSA funds-transfer service enables the operator’s subscribers in Fiji to send and receive funds using only the recipient’s mobile phone number. Participants need not have a bank account, the company says.
Lotus Foreign Exchange, a foreign exchange service, with offices in Australia and New Zealand, is Vodafone’s partner in this venture.
The service is touted as the easiest way to send funds from Australia and New Zealand to Fiji, where some 60% of the population lacks access to traditional banks and financial services.
Depositing funds into the account is free. The cost to withdraw funds at an authorized agent or Vodafone center costs anywhere between F$1 (US$0.55 to 0.40 euros) to F$6, depending on the amount withdrawn.
Participants in Australia and New Zealand may visit a Lotus Foreign Exchange center in their region and deposit the funds they want to send using the beneficiary's Vodafone mobile number in Fiji. Recipients receive a text message they must display to an authorized agent to receive funds.
In addition to sending and receiving funds, Fijians may use the service to pay bills and withdraw cash from Vodafone MPAiSA agents throughout Fiji, including at Vodafone Fiji stores, Westpac Bank Ltd's branches and Fiji post offices.
A spokesperson for Vodafone Fiji tells PaymentsSource that to activate the MPAiSA service, a Fiji customer would first have to go to any Vodafone retail center or an authorized M-PAiSA Agent outlet with his mobile phone to register as an M-PAiSA customer using valid identification.
Participants in Fiji can add funds to the account with cash or a bankcard.
“Once the account is topped, the customer can perform a host of services using the Interactive Voice Recognition feature” on a Vodafone Fiji handset, he says.
The maximum amount of funds that can be loaded at one time onto an account is F$10,000 (US$5,560 or 4,100 euros) at a time, the spokesperson adds. There is no minimum balance requirement for the service.
The Australian Agency for International Development, UN Capital Development Fund, European Union and the United Nations Development Programme helped to fund the program, according to Vodafone MPAiSA. The Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme, aimed at providing sustainable financial services to low-income households, backs the service, Vodafone said.
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