Orange and the BNP Paribas group of banks have partnered up to offer African customers direct access between their retail bank accounts and their Orange Money accounts which are accessed through their phones.

Orange Money already enables customers to pay for good and services such as utilities and phone credit using their mobile phones, and by linking their Orange accounts to their BNP Paribas bank accounts, customers can carry out real-time banking operations and transfer money between the two quickly and securely.

“This agreement gives Orange Money customers access to new banking services (savings account, international bank card, etc.) and gives BNP Paribas customers access to an extensive withdrawal/deposit network and the possibility of paying bills or buying telephone credit from their mobile phones,” said François Benaroya, retail director in the International Retail Banking branch of BNP Paribas.

Orange Money currently has more than 10m customers in 13 countries in the Middle East and Africa. The new service is available immediately in Côte d’Ivoire, and will soon be extended to other countries in which both Orange and BNP Paribas operate, in particular Senegal.