Vodafone has launched M-Pesa in India through a partnership with ICICI Bank.

The mobile money service originally launched in Kenya in 2007, where it has proved extremely successful, and is now available in eight countries.

 The service has been trialled, and will initially be rolled out to eastern areas of India, including Kolkata, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand through more than 8,300 specially authorised M-Pesa agents. This will give it a reach of 220m people, before rolling out across the rest of India in phases.

“Research shows that M-Pesa brings real benefits to users in their daily lives, saving three hours a week of their time and around $3 in money transfer costs – a significant amount to people in some areas,” said Marten Pieters, managing director and CEO of Vodafone India. “In partnership with ICICI Bank, we will provide people in remote areas with a convenient way to bank, transfer money and make payments in a safe and secure manner.

“We have customised our offering to serve the needs of Indian customers while ensuring its compliance with all applicable regulations. Financial inclusion is a national priority and we believe that with M-Pesa, we now have the ideal offering to enable this.”

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