In what will mark a first for India’s growing digital payments setup, Mobikwik has announced international expansion to over 150 countries today, as a result of a partnership with DT One. DT One is a global B2B network for mobile top-ups/recharge, rewards and airtime credit services. As per this agreement with DT One, MobiKwik will offer mobile recharge in 150+ countries across more than 550 mobile operators.
Dubbed under “International Recharge”, the service on MobiKwik app is currently live across 150+ countries in the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, United States, Latin America and Carribean enabling users to seamlessly recharge a mobile number across DT One’s global network of over 550 operators. For DT One, this is the first time that mobile recharge will be originated out of India via their network, rather than to India.
Commenting on the partnership, Upasana Taku, Co-founder, MobiKwik, said “This new feature will enable millions – immigrants in India from across the globe, students studying abroad and even frequent travellers the power of connectivity at their finger tips via the new feature on the MobiKwik app. This launch is in line with our future growth and expansion plans in the domestic as well as international markets and making most of the services on a single platform.”
This will be beneficial for Indians travelling abroad as well. Business travelers with long term pre-paid SIM of the country they frequently visit, would now be able to recharge it via MobiKwik wallet prior to travel and that too in Indian currency. The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists by 2020. Operators say that at present around 25 million tourists from India travel abroad.
“Our goal is to make digital communications more available and accessible to everyone, helping to keep more people better connected so they are able to do the things that matter to them the most, online,” said DT One EVP of APAC, Mr. Krishnadeep Baruah.
The expansion could actually go down fairly well with Mobikwik’s exsiting customers, as well as for Non resident Indians. Data also backs this move. An estimated 17 million Indians were living abroad in 2017, making India the largest source country for international migrants globally, according to an IndiaSpendanalysis of datafrom the United Nations Department of Economic Affairs.
