Qtel and MoneyGram on Tuesday announced a new partnership to make MoneyGram money transfer available through Qtel Mobile Money, the pioneering service, which enables customers to transfer money to almost every country in the world using a mobile phone. Under the new partnership, customers are able to send money to 284,000 local agents in 196 countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines, where it can be collected by friends, family, business partners and anyone that customers wish to send money to. The deal is the first in the world of its kind, and represents another incredible improvement in the customer experience delivered by Qtel Mobile Money, which is the fastest-growing financial transfer service in Qatar. Thanks to this agreement, Qtel Mobile Money customers can transfer money to whoever they want to, whenever and wherever they need to. Transfer of the money is almost instantaneous and recipients can collect the cash safely and reliably from the MoneyGram local agents. With the MoneyGram partnership, Qtel becomes the first operator in the world to offer MoneyGram money transfer. Customers can forget the hassle of long queues at money exchanges, because they can transfer money at any time of the day or night. Importantly, Mobile Money customers do not need to have a bank account to use the service, so thousands of so-called “under-banked” customers in Qatar now have a secure, effective service to send money home without worry. Waleed Al Sayed, CEO, Qtel Qatar, said: “This partnership is a critically-important step that reinforces and demonstrates Qtel’s commitment to service and innovation.  With a growing number of foreign workers working on critical projects in Qatar, there is an increasing need for people to be able to transfer money safely and conveniently back home at any time and from anywhere.” From Gulf Today