Thousands of members of 6 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores to benefit from convenient transactions and receive on-time delivery of goods

· Several members including resellers/kiranas have gone live on M-Pesa, generating a very good response

Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecom service providers, has entered into a strategic tie-up with Walmart India, the wholly owned subsidiary of world’s largest retailer Walmart Stores Inc. This tie-up will enable business members of six Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, owned and operated by Walmart India, to make payments using M-Pesa from their mobile anywhere, anytime. The first-of-its-kind partnership with Walmart India, gives all its members, including small businesses such as kiranas/resellers, the benefit of sending money through their mobile phones instantly & securely and run their customer facing businesses more efficiently and in hassle-free manner.

As a part of this partnership, Vodafone M-Pesa will enable safe, secure and convenient transactions, making it easier for all its members in Lucknow, Amravati, Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada and Guntur to make faster payments and help Walmart ensure timely delivery of goods.

Under this arrangement, when a Best Price store member based in any of these cities places an order with Walmart India, a Vodafone M-Pesa authorized agent will reach out to him/her and enable cash-in into his/her M-Pesa account. This will allow the member to make payments from his/her phone for the goods ordered from Walmart’s Best Price Cash & Carry store. After receiving a confirmation message, Walmart India will immediately dispatch goods to the member.

Speaking about the association, Suresh Sethi, Business Head –M-Pesa, Vodafone India said, “Vodafone has always been at the forefront in launching innovative products and services relevant to the needs of our customers. Vodafone M-Pesa is an innovative, safe and secure mobile wallet that enables complete suite of services like money transfer, bill payments, and recharge on the move from the mobile. We are delighted to extend M-Pesa offering to Walmart India across its six Best Price Modern Wholesale stores. We are confident that this association will go a long way in simplifying the payments process for Walmart India from the members, especially resellers based in secondary markets. Starting with pilots in Amravati and Lucknow, we have now extended it to members in Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Guntur and Vijayawada and we hope to extend it pan-India soon.”

Rajneesh Kumar, Vice-President and Head – Corporate Affairs, Walmart India, said: “We are very excited about this partnership with Vodafone M-Pesa. We are confident that our members, especially kiranas/resellers, will benefit due to the convenience of payment along with efficient delivery of quality products at their doorstep. We value our members and strive to give them an excellent shopping experience.”

Vodafone India provides customers with a new currency in the form of M-Pesa, the world renowned mobile wallet and money transfer service. Vodafone M-Pesa is an innovative, safe and secure mobile wallet enables complete suite of services like money transfer, bill payments, and recharge on the move from the mobile. It caters to all segments of the society, from the unbanked to the under banked and to the net-savvy and evolved customers. Today, with a pan-India distribution of over 90,000 agents and more than 3 million customers, Vodafone M-Pesa is the largest banking correspondent in the country and is playing a vital role in enabling financial inclusion and m-commerce.