A new service launched today by Qtel will allow customers to transfer money to 196 countries using their mobile phones, the company has announced.

The move is an extension of Qtel’s year-old Mobile Money service, through which users can set up a phone “wallet” to send money to Pakistan and the Philippines. To expand the company’s reach to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, Qtel is partnering with international money transfer group Moneygram.

Not everyone in Qatar has a bank account or access to the internet, and the new multilingual service is especially designed to help the country’s migrant workers send money home without having to queue up in long lines at the exchange, a Qtel spokesman told Doha News.

He added that the rates for money transfers will be competitive with exchanges.

To set up an account, users (who must be at least 18 years old and have a Qatar ID) can SMS *140# (for the Mini Wallet) and follow the prompts or visit a Qtel shop. Money can be added to “wallets” by visiting Qtel shops or self-service machines.

No minimum balance needs to be maintained, and residents can also transfer money to each other using the Mobile Money service. The money can also be used and transferred as phone credit or cashed out, the spokesman said.

The Mini-Wallet service can also be activated online, but comes with certain user limits, including a QR2,000 transaction cap.

Read the FAQs here and find more information about the 196 countries and 284,000 agents used by Moneygram can be found here.

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Credit: Photo by Omar Chatriwala