Huawei in partnership deal so African expats can send cash home

Huawei Technologies Co said it will partner with British money-transfer operator WorldRemit Ltd to enable African expatriates to send cash home to more than 100 million users of the Chinese company’s mobile-money service platform.

The deal will let Huawei and WorldRemit tap into growing demand for money transfers from Africans living abroad using mobile-payments services, which are popular in places where banks are scarce or unreliable. All carriers that are Huawei partners will be able to use the service, the two companies said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

As basic phone calls and text messages have become less profitable, wireless operators in Africa and elsewhere are turning to services such as banking to boost sales and keep customers loyal.

According to WorldRemit, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region in the world to send money to and aside from bringing down the costs, digital payments also eliminate the need for the sender to travel to an agent to send funds back to family or friends.

“International remittance is a very important mobile-money service in Africa, and our partnership with WorldRemit will bring the service directly to Huawei’s customers across the continent,” David Chen, Huawei’s vice president for southern Africa, said in the statement.