TransferTo, a Singapore-based company that operates a global airtime transfer network, has signed agreements with three telecommunication service providers in the Asia-Pacific region targeted at customers living abroad who wish to send wireless recharge in real-time to relatives located in their home countries.Vodafone Fiji, which is minority-owned by UK-based telecommunications company Vodafone, partnered with TransferTo to offer a service that would allow Fiji nationals living abroad to top-up between USD 1 and USD 100 for prepaid subscribers in Fiji. Fijians working and living abroad reportedly remit nearly USD 180 million home every year [1].
In South Korea, LG U+ and TransferTo launched “Talk-time Transfer”, through which any LG U+ client would be able to transfer value from a calling card to a prepaid mobile phone account abroad, minus a transaction fee. According to the Korean Times newspaper, there were more than 1.2 million foreign nationals living in South Korea in 2010 [2].
Bharti Airtel Lanka and TransferTo launched a similar service in Sri Lanka wherein expatriates would be able to top-up their friends’ and family members’ Airtel accounts. The estimated value of remittances sent home by Sri Lankans living abroad during 2010 was USD 4 billion [3].
There is no indication of whether recipients can convert the credit to cash.
By Jacqueline Foelster, Research Associate
About TransferTo: Established in 2005, TransferTo is a telecommunications company based in Singapore. Its primary activity is to provide global cross-border top-up services by interconnecting mobile operators’ prepaid systems. It reportedly operates in 65 countries as of April 2011. No financial information is available on TransferTo.
About Vodafone Fiji: Minority-owned by global telecommunications company Vodafone Group, Vodafone Fiji is a telecommunications company that was launched in Fiji in July 1994. Financial information on Vodafone Fiji is not available.
About LG U+: Formerly known as LG Telecom, LG U+ is a telecommunication service provider in South Korea formed by the merger of three companies, LG Telecom, LG Dacom and LG Powercomm, in 2010. It reported total assets of USD 783 billion in December 2010.
About Bharti Airtel Lanka: As a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel of India, Bharti Airtel Lanka began operations in Sri Lanka in January 2009. Bharti Airtel Lanka reportedly has approximately 1 million customers as of April 2011.
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] TransferTo Press Release, March 29, 2011, “Vodafone Fiji Prepaid Mobile Airtime Now Available on TransferTo”, http://www.transfer-to.com/Vodafone-Fiji-Prepaid-Mobile-Airtime-Now-Available-on-TransferTo
[2] TransferTo Press Release, March 30, 2011, “LG U+ Launches International Top-Up Service in Korea with TransferTo”, http://www.transfer-to.com/LG-U-Launches-International-Top-Up-Service-in-Korea-with-TransferTo
[3] TransferTo Press Release, March 29, 2011, “Airtel partners with TransferTo for International Top-Up Service”, http://www.transfer-to.com/airtel-partners-with-TransferTo-for-International-Top-Up-Service
MicroCapital.org Brief, August 6, 2010, “Ingenico SA of France Takes Majority Stake in Remittance Provider TransferTo”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-ingenico-sa-of-france-takes-majority-stake-in-remittance-provider-transferto/
MicroCapital.org Brief, May 11, 2010, “Shaka Mobile and TransferTo Launch Service Facilitating Cross-Border Mobile Money Transfers”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-shaka-mobile-and-transferto-launch-service-facilitating-cross-border-mobile-money-transfers/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: TransferTo, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=TransferTo
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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