Partnership allows Bank of Baroda customers to seamlessly transfer funds from their accounts to M-PAiSA wallet. 

Thursday 18th November, 2021

Moves to facilitate seamless digital payments in order to support Fiji’s burgeoning digital economy have certainly been fast-tracked since international borders first slammed shut at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

Vodafone has long been at the forefront of Fiji’s digital economy since the launch of the M-PAiSA digital wallet and payment system back in 2010.

In a move aimed at improving customer’s digital payment experiences, Vodafone announced a forthcoming partnership with Bank of Baroda to streamline customer payment systems.

Vodafone’s Chief Marketing Officer Rajnesh Prasad convened with Governor of the Reserve bank of Fiji Ariff Ali and CEO of Bank of Baroda Sudhansu Khamari to make the announcement during the integration partnership launch event on 20th October.

Money transferred from customers bank accounts will reflect in their M-PAiSA accounts in seconds, confirmed Mr Prasad.

Bank of Baroda Chief Executive Sudhansu Khamari claimed that the next phase of the partnership between Vodafone and the financial institution would offer customers the option of transferring funds the other way from M-PAiSA wallet to their Bank of Baroda account.

As it stands Vodafone customers can now transfer funds from their Bank of Baroda accounts into M-PAiSA 24/7 from anywhere in Fiji.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji Ariff Ali has assured the public that the move is a positive one for the people and a move in the right direction for the Fijian economy.

Mr Ali says that the partnership will assist in reducing the cost of accessing basic financial services for farmers, fishermen, market vendors and small and medium enterprises.

“The Bank of Baroda and Vodafone partnership is timely and complements the National Payment System Reform work that the Reserve Bank is currently leading, which is strongly supported by the Fijian Government, as evident in the unanimous passing of the National Payment System Act 2021 by Parliament in February this year.”

“Once the Act commences, mobile money along with other payment providers will transition into being regulated and supervised by the RBF therefore providing the ability to balance innovation with good governance, transparency and consumer protection,” explained Mr Ali.

“Today’s partnership launch will further improve access and usage of digital financial services and allow many to take advantage of the opportunity that it presents. It also ties in well with Government’s initiative of digitising the Fiji economy and reducing our reliance on cash.”

Users can now transfer funds to their M-PAiSA accounts from Bank of Baroda as well as HFC and Westpac accounts, while utilising the M-PAiSA service to top up E-Transport cards, send money to any mobile phone users in Fiji on Vodafone and other networks, receive money from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, the UK and other EU countries, pay utility bills and business payments, withdraw cash at any authorised M-PAiSA agent, recharge prepaid Vodafone and Inkk mobile numbers, buy data plans, update their secret M-PAiSA PIN at anytime or request a mini statement to check their account’s last five transactions.