The African subsidiary of Indian operator group Bharti Airtel has extended its mobile money transfer service across the 17 African markets it operates in.

Airtel Africa’s subscribers will be able to send and receive money transfers over the operator’s network, which will be connected to a community of mobile network operators, and money transfer organisations, through the HomeSend hub. HomeSend is a global hubbing service offered by mobile financial services solutions provider BICS, which enables mobile-centric money transfers.

The service connects a global community of telecom service providers, banks and financial organisations and facilitates money transfers in real-time, enabling person-to-person transfers of cash, credit card payments or direct bank transfers.

“Mobile is seen as a viable channel to transfer money in Africa. This agreement enables us to guarantee the availability of money transfer services for our subscribers,” explained Chidi Okpala, Airtel Africa’s director and head of Airtel Money.

“It will enable them to send and receive transfers in a safe and secure environment. This partnership with BICS is another step by Airtel Money to deepen financial inclusion, expand cash less ecosystems and facilitate intra Africa fund flows across our 17 markets. More so, our customers will no longer need to travel long distances because they want to send or receive money.”

Bharti Airtel, the fourth largest mobile operator in the world, also recently extended its One Network on-net charging offer to its Asian markets.