Vodafone Samoa has got into a partnership with ANZ Bank which will enable the mobile phone company's customers to deposit money into their M-Tala accounts.

The deposit can be done using ANZ BillPay on the ANZ Internet Banking and the ANZ Pacific App, according to a media release issued by the telecommunications company on Monday.

ANZ Samoa Regional Country Head, Bernie Poort, said they are keen to lead the way in digital banking in the Pacific Islands and the partnership with Vodafone will accelerate that. 

"We want to be the leading digital bank in the Pacific, and this partnership is part of our commitment to accelerate Samoa's shift to digital," Mr. Poort said. 

"In addition to this, a large portion of the market in Samoa remain 'unbanked', meaning they don't have a bank account so partnerships like this are critical in ensuring that customers who want to transfer funds to family and friends in rural areas have more options using a mobile phone." 

According to Mr. Poort, Vodafone Samoa is an important partner to ANZ and the two firms will continue to work together to bring innovation to their customers and the community.

Acting Vodafone Samoa C.E.O. Rana Bose praised their M-Tala payment platform and described it as a critical part of Samoa's digital infrastructure.

“M-Tala is a critical part of digital transformation in Samoa, where customers are able to perform financial transactions using their mobile phones which brings convenience."

Vodafone Samoa is dedicated to providing digital solutions that will take Samoa on par with advanced nations. This new service will facilitate an added advantage for customers who have M-Tala whereby they can deposit money in their M-Tala in the comfort of their homes.

One of Vodafone Samoa’s core values is "innovation hungry" which is geared to provide convenience. This will allow M-Tala customers to have access to M-Tala deposits 24/7.