Telecoms and media company, Millicom, has launched a mobile money service that will allow Tanzanians to automatically earn a return on their balance direct to their wallet.

Millicom, which has operations across Africa and Latin America operates in the East African nation as Tigo. And customers use the mobile money service, Tigo Pesa.

According to Millicom, it has 4.7 million mobile money customers in its six Tigo operations on the continent.

And the company says that its latest service “Tigo Wekeza” plans to allow over 3.5 million Tigo Pesa users to benefit from quarterly payments based on the balance held in their accounts.

The statement further notes that Tigo Pesa users in Tanzania will have the option to nominate a non-profit beneficiary, in line with their personal cultural belief.

Commenting on the new service, Millicom president and chief executive officer, Hans-Holger Albrecht said, “This innovation reflects our commitment to develop mobile money into an even more attractive service and will extend financial inclusion further."

"It comes in a year when we have already pioneered cross-border mobile money transfers with automatic currency conversion as well as a unique interoperability arrangement with other operators in Africa," he added.

The GSMA's chief regulatory officer Tom Phillips added, “This new service is a further example of the many pioneering ways in which the industry supports inclusive financial and social policy goals.”

According to the GSMA’s Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU) report , the global number of active mobile money users as of June 2013 reached 61 million accounts, compared to 37 million in June 2012.

Furthermore, the number of registered mobile money accounts nearly tripled from 71 million in June 2011 to 203 million in June 2013, the GSMA reports.