Maxis partners with Western Union to offer Mobile Money Transfer Service

Since the announcement about 8-months ago, Maxis and Western Union today announced that the Mobile Money Transfer Service is now available to all Maxis postpaid and prepaid subscribers.

How to use Mobile Money Transfer(click image):

M-Money Cash-in Channels:

Press Release inside.

Maxis Berhad (‘Maxis’), Malaysia’s leading communications provider, and The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in money-transfer services, today announced the launch of the pilot programme of a mobile money transfer service.

With the introduction of this service, Maxis and Hotlink subscribers can send money to one of more than 370,000 Western Union Agent locations in 200 countries and territories.

To enroll in the service and “top up” their mobile accounts during the initial launch of the service, Maxis and Hotlink subscribers can visit one of 13 Maxis locations in the Klang Valley, Pahang and Sabah.

Jean-Pascal Van Overbeke, Maxis’ Chief Operating Officer, said, “Mobile commerce is part of our future, and we intend to collaborate with strong companies such as Western Union to build an ecosystem that will have the potential to change our customers’ lives. In this instance, we are simplifying the customer experience by offering them easy access to a global money transfer service that cuts across borders and processes. This service will provide customers with a more immediate option of transferring money more frequently to family and friends.”

“Maxis subscribers can now send cross-border remittances virtually anywhere in the world using just their mobile phones,” said Khalid Fellahi, Head of Mobile Transaction Services, Western Union. “The way people send money is changing, and Western Union is proud to be an industry leader in the introduction of mobile financial services.”

There are obvious benefits for customers who participate in the pilot programme. They can send money directly from their mobile phones, and they receive an SMS notification when the funds are collected in the destination country, allowing them peace of mind.

To participate in the pilot programme, Maxis customers may register for the service in three easy steps. Firstly, they need to sign up for M-money via SMS (type REG and send to 27007). Secondly, the customer needs to top-up cash into his M-money account.  For the first transaction, this must be done physically at a Maxis Centre and select retailers at the pilot locations. Once a customer has registered at a physical location, he can top up cash online through mobile and internet banking channels and via cheque or cash deposit machines at participating banks. Finally, the customer may remit money via SMS.  Registered M-money customers with money in their M-wallets can use the service immediately.

This launch marks the first time that Western Union has enabled mobile money transfer transactions from a mobile phone (a “mobile send”) with a mobile network operator outside the United States. The service will mainly benefit the large number of foreign workers in Malaysia, especially people from Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh, providing convenience and efficiency in global funds transfers.

Western Union has established cross-border Mobile Money Transfer services live around the globe via partnerships with Globe Telecom and Smart Communications in the Philippines and with Safaricom in Kenya. Western Union also recently began offering mobile money transfer services to Absa accountholders in South Africa.

Maxis was the first mobile operator in Malaysia to introduce mobile money and mobile international remittance via Maxis M-money, a mobile financial service platform. M-money allows Maxis customers to send money within Malaysia to other Maxis customers, top-up airtime, pay their Maxis postpaid bills, and purchase items such as cinema tickets.

Participating Dealers(for top-up)