Orange and the BNP Paribas Group Monday announced a partnership that will offer retail banking customers in Africa direct access between their BNP Paribas account and their Orange Money account through their mobile phones, according to a press release. This new service is available in Côte d'Ivoire and will be extended to other countries in which BNP Paribas and Orange Money are present, particularly Senegal.

The service allows customers of the BNP Paribas group (BICICI in Côte d'Ivoire) to carry out real-time banking operations without going to their banks by using their Orange Money account.

Customers can transfer money to their Orange Money account directly from their BNP Paribas bank account, or vice versa.

The large network of licensed Orange Money distributors will supplement the network of BNP Paribas bank branches, offering a maximum number of cash withdrawal points to all customers, particularly in more remote areas.

"Orange Money and BNP Paribas are joining forces to deploy Orange Money services to banking customers in their common sales territories in Africa," Thierry Millet, director of the payments and contactless program at Orange BNP Paribas, said in a statement. "Customers will thus benefit from Orange Money functionalities such as money transfers, bill payments, merchant payments and purchases of airtime credit. The synergies of our businesses will make it easier for customers to manage their money, wherever they are in the country and at any time of the day."

Through the new partnership, Orange Money and BNP Paribas pledge to increase the percentage of the population holding bank accounts by offering a fast, secure and reliable service for managing all daily banking operations, according to the press release.

Orange Money currently has more than 10 million customers in 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Subscription to the Orange Money service is free of charge.