PayPal and Safaricom have announced a collaboration that enables Kenyans to seamlessly move money between their M-PESA and PayPal accounts.

Safaricom pioneered commercial mobile money transfer globally through M-PESA, the most successful service of its kind anywhere in the world. Launched in March 2007, M-PESA now has over 27.8 million customers and over 148,000 M-PESA Agent outlets countrywide.

The new service eliminates significant barriers that have hindered consumers and businesses in the country from taking full advantage of global eCommerce. “M-PESA’s cooperation with PayPal will open up global marketplaces and the global economy to millions of Kenyan and Kenyan-based businesses and individuals,” said Joseph Ogutu, Director of Strategy at Safaricom.

“This development ushers in a new era of speed and convenience beyond borders, as we work towards innovating robust platforms through which more entrepreneurs and consumers can benefit from international money transfers and the growing eCommerce industry.”

The company’s new partnership will allow Kenyan consumers to transfer money between their accounts with PayPal and their accounts with M-PESA. PayPal said its arrangement will enable Kenyan customers to buy items from global PayPal merchants and sell items worldwide.

PayPal’s collaboration with M-PESA is part of the company’s long-term strategy to enable e-commerce and democratize financial services on the African continent,” said Efi Dahan, PayPal’s general manager for the Middle East, Africa, and Russia, in a release.

The strategic collaboration is underpinned using TransferTo’s technology to create a fundamental link between M-PESA users in Kenya and PayPal’s global network.