[kictanet] International remittances straight to your M-PESA account

[Andrea Bohnstedt]

I think that Western Union have to apply the usual provisions against
moneylaundering  when accepting the money to be sent to Kenya - there is no
difference between sending it to an M-PESA account or sending it to be
picked up at a Western Union agent.

As far as I remember, you only need the reference number and a password to
pick up a Western Union payment - there are usually no controls with the
recipient.

Also, a limit of around KES35,000 applies per transaction - you'll be
sending LOADS of payments before that becomes interesting for professional
moneylaunderers :) There are easier ways.

On 31 March 2011 15:54, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 12:29, Andrea Bohnstedt <
> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> Safaricom have entered a co-operation with Western Union so that
>> remittances can be sent straight to M-PESA accounts. I haven't seen the fee
>> structure yet (probably the usual Western Union fees), but still - great to
>> see that Safaricom seem to have cracked the international transfers. Another
>> global first for Kenya, I think.
>>
>> Here's the press release:
>>
>> http://www.ratio-magazine.com/201103313887/Corporate-Press-Releases/Kenya-Press-Releases-M-PESA-to-Accept-Remittances-through-Alliance-with-Western-Union.html
>>
>>
> This is very interesting.
>
> How will they counter money laundering?
>
> Will central Bank now require Safaricom to submit details of ALL
> transactions for the purpose of monitoring how much money came in via this
> medium?
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
> Nairobi,KE
> +254733744121/+254722743223
> _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
> Damn!!
>
>
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-- 
Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
Publisher
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