France Telecom-Orange announced that Orange Money users will have access to Visa mobile prepaid account features inside their Orange Money accounts, a significant step in bringing payments to consumers in developing markets.

Orange Money is Orange's mobile phone-based payment service begun in 2008 in Africa and the Middle East offering person-to-person (P2P) transfers, bill payments and loading/withdrawing using a network of authorized agents. It's currently available in eight countries. The Visa payment option will be available to select markets beginning by the end of this year.

"We already provide secure and convenient payment capability to 3.5 million unbanked or financially under-served African citizens," said Jean-Paul Cottet, Orange's executive director for marketing and innovation. "By combining the convenience of Orange Money with the reach of Visa's global payment network, we can offer new payment capability to Orange Money customers in their home country and abroad."

Visa's new Mobile Prepaid service, introduced last year to link mobile money programs around the world through Visa's VisaNet global payment network, will let account holders make P2P transactions, make payments at retail and e-commerce merchants and even withdraw funds at Visa ATMs.

"Mobile technology has become one of the most important enablers of financial inclusion and its ubiquity is allowing mobile network operators, financial institutions and Visa to connect financially under-served consumers to each other and the global economy," said John Partridge, president, Visa Inc.

Partridge said the convergence of mobile and financial services networks helps to remove service barriers, accelerate the pace of change and transform the lives of consumers in developing countries.

For more stories on this topic, visit the money transfer/P2P research center.