Mobile provider MTN and airtime remittance provider, TransferTo, has teamed up to allow customers access to international mobile top-up services across borders. This means that MTN prepaid users will now be able to purchase extra MTN credit from a slew of different countries.

The service enables “instant and convenient small value transfers in the form of perpaid mobile credits”, according to MTN. Money transfer companies have especially started targeting migrant populations in recent times, with the remittance service seen by customers as an ideal low-cost, high value gift.

MTN's presence on the African continent makes the service even more useful, with the company present across 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East. It also has more than 150 million mobile subscribers in markets where large numbers of prepaid customers have relatives living and working abroad.

TranferTo's global network will further allow MTN customers to reach users around the globe. For example, a mobile subscriber in France can top up his cousin's MTN Congo prepaid account via SMS, or a Nigerian residing in London can transfer airtime to an MTN Nigeria phone from their mobile or via www.TransferTo.com.

Eric Barbier, CEO of TransferTo, said he is, “delighted to partner with the MTN Group to extend the deployment of airtime remittance services across the mobile operator's 21 markets, each of those being a major addition to the TransferTo network.”

“International Top-Up will greatly benefit migrant populations originating from countries in which MTN operates as they will now enjoy a unique way to send gifts and get closer to their loved ones back home,” he concluded.