Lebara and WorldRemit have announced a strategic partnership that makes WorldRemit the exclusive global money transfer partner of Lebara and gives it access to more than forty African countries. The deal allows over 3 million Lebara Mobile and Lebara Money users to use WorldRemit's digital money transfer service directly from the Lebara app and website.

Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit said t a large number of customers will benefit as more than half of WorldRemit's transfers now go to Africa.

"We are delighted to be partnering with one of the world's premier MVNO brands targeting international residents in Europe, giving its users access to our mobile-first service. With more than 260,000 points of sale, Lebara's visibility and brand awareness complements WorldRemit's strong digital capability.."

WorldRemit has also revealed that it plans to have 5 million customers connected to the continent by 2020. Lebara customers living in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and Netherlands will also have access to WorldRemit's payout network in over 145 countries. As part of the deal, WorldRemit will also be co-branding in Lebara's full retail estate stores and advertising in Lebara Mobile sim packs sold in 260,000 stores across Western Europe.

"WorldRemit has been working with telecommunication partners on the receive side, but this is our first strategic partnership with a mobile operator on the send side. We look forward to strengthening our leading position in the market with equally ambitious partnerships in the future." adds Ahmed.

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Lebara Group says this initiative is in response to a growing need of their customer base.

"Many of Lebara's customers send money home to relatives and friends and we are delighted to be able to partner with WorldRemit to offer a simple to use and highly cost effective service. Lebara mobile's leadership position in the growing international residents market in Europe, coupled with a surge in smartphone users, creates an ideal platform for launching new and exciting services through partnerships. Our partners get unique access to a customer base which few other mobile companies can match."

Worldremit says its customers make more than 1 million transactions every month, using its app or website.