Vodafone has struck a deal with MoneyGram which will enable people to transfer funds directly from around 200 countries to users of the M-Pesa mobile money service.
Consumers will be able to send money to M-Pesa accounts from MoneyGram's 334,000 agents around the world as well as from the firm's Web site and through its mobile apps.
The service will be made available in "key markets" in the second quarter before a wider roll out to all countries in which MoneyGram operates. Money can be sent to M-Pesa account holders in Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Fiji, India, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
The partners hope to take advantage of the fact that more than half of all people in the countries in which M-Pesa operates do not have traditional bank accounts and that tens of billions of dollars in remittances is sent back to them every year.
Michael Joseph, Vodafone director of M-Pesa, says: "Our partnership with MoneyGram provides the most extensive global network and greatest number of access points for consumers wishing to transfer funds to M-Pesa users."