British operator Vodafone announced Monday at the industry’s annual trade show in Barcelona that it would launch a money transfer service in Afghanistan after the successful introduction of a similar initiative in Kenya. Roshan Telecoms would be the partner of Vodafone in Afghanistan. Roshan is the larges mobile operator in Afghanistan and the partnership with Vodafone would be a huge gain for Roshan Telecoms against its rival Afgahan Wireless.

“You can send money, withdraw cash, pay your bills or your loan, and all this is within seconds,” said Aleeda Fazal, head of product development at Afghan group Roshan, which is the partner for Vodafone in the troubled country.

In effect, the network operator acts as a money transfer agent for the subscriber.

The user deposits money and then sends an SMS to a person who can go to a phone shop anywhere in the country and take out the amount stipulated in the text message.

Via