Telecoms company MTN today launched mobile money cross-border remittance service between Ivory Coast and Benin. It said the service will further enable cheaper and easy movement of money in the West Africa region.

“The launch of this new corridor is an important part of our mobile financial services strategy. The new service will take advantage of the extensive distribution network of MTN Mobile Money in both countries, and reduce the cost of sending and receiving money for our customers,” said Pieter Verkade, MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer.

MTN said the Ivory Coast-Benin mobile money cross-border corridor follows the successful introduction of a similar service in April this year between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

“The ability to transfer money easily and cheaply between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast is already revolutionising the lives of many of our customers. As with the Burkina service, the Benin corridor will not only connect families, but also facilitate trade and business partnerships on a regional scale,” said Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO of MTN Ivory Coast.

The company said the introduction of cross-border remittance forms part of its strategy to increase financial inclusion through the use of mobile technologies, and to reduce the cost of transferring money between countries.