Orange Money has reached the threshold of 3 million customers in the eight countries where it is now offered, thus becoming one of the most powerful electronic money services in Africa. Orange say that their Orange Money service “has tripled its customer base in the past year. The service recently launched in two other countries in Africa: in Botswana in partnership with the Standard Chartered Bank, and in Cameroon in partnership with the BICEC.

The service which is exclusive to Orange network, allows mobile phone customers to open an Orange Money account whether or not they have a bank account. The service allows customers to carry out simple banking operations and transactions including;

• Money transfers, where users can send money using their phone to any Orange mobile customer in the country;
• Payments, giving users an easier way to pay their electricity, water, television or phones bills, as well as providing a simple way to buy mobile phone credit from any location;
• Financial services, including solutions facilitating savings and insurance.

Orange has also announced plans to expand the Orange Money to include the possibility of receiving international money transfers through Western Union. The two firms are reported to at advanced stages in their partnership. Safaricom through the M-Pesa service has such an arrangement with Western Union. Through Safaricom, Western Union clients in more than 46 countries can send money to M-Pesa clients in Kenya directly without going through any Western Union agent.