Telecom company Vodafone Romania recently launched its money wire service M-Pesa, which allows all Vodafone mobile users to send and receive money via the mobile phone, without using a bank account. Romania thus becomes the first European country where Vodafone owns the license for electronic currency.

Vodafone wants to tap into the pool of Romanians who do not own a bank account – 40 percent of the population, according to its data. M-Pesa can also be used by those who have bank accounts, but who would like to make easier payments via the mobile phone, according to Andrea Rossini, Chief Commercial Officer, Consumer Business Unit, Vodafone Romania.

In order to use the new service, Vodafone clients, both subscription – based, and pre-paid accounts, need to activate their service in any store affiliated with M-Pesa, and all they need is their ID card. Before using the service, clients have to call *789#.

Once the account is created, users can deposit cash to their M-Pesa account at any outlet in the program, and then can send the money elsewhere. To receive money, the client needs to show up with an ID at any M-Pesa unit at the receiving end. Money deposits and withdrawals are charged fixed fees, between RON 1 and 3 for sending money, and between RON 2.5 and 30 for withdrawals, depending on the amount sent.

So far, M-Pesa is available at 300 Vodafone units in Romania and at its partners PayZone, RoBest, and Agroland. The telecom company wants to expand the network to 2,000 units in the following year.

The full list of M-Pesa retailers is here (in Romanian).

editor@romania-insider.com