NAIROBI - M-Pesa customers in Kenya will now be able to receive money from people in the United Kingdom directly into their phone accounts.

This comes after telecommunication provider Safaricom and its agents KenTv, Western Union and Provident Capital Transfers launched an international component of M-Pesa.

Speaking at the launch Safaricom chief executive officer Michael Joseph says the service will cost between 460 and 800 shillings per transaction.

Joseph notes that transactions will be restricted to not more than 250 pounds per transaction and 1000 pounds a month.

The currency will be converted at the prevailing exchange rate.

Central bank governor who presented the certificate of compliance says central bank has been evaluating the service for over 2 years on safety, efficiency as well as reliability to make sure it meets international standard.

The legal framework has also been dealt with under section 33A of the central bank Act to make it legal. Ndung’u has also noted that 3 more bills are before parliament to facilitate lawful transfer of money.

Over 200 million immigrants from the developing world live in the developed world and remit over 283 billion dollars annually.

Safaricom hopes to take the services to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates and eventually the United States, countries with big Kenyan populations, said Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph.

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