With the payroll service, companies in Qatar will be able to pay workers’ salaries directly to employees’ Mobile Money accounts, providing a safe, convenient, and immediate channel for payments.

The launch of payroll services on Ooredoo Mobile Money will address a range of social issues, ensuring that employees are paid directly and reducing concerns relating to payments by cash and cheques, particularly for migrant workers. Employees will be able to immediately see when payments have been made and be able to transfer their money quickly and safely, all via their mobile phones.

With millions of foreign workers residing the GCC region, many of whom are unable to access bank accounts, executives at Ooredoo and QNB said they are optimistic that the service “will have an immediate impact on people’s lives.”

Waleed al-Sayed, chief operating officer, Ooredoo Qatar, said: “Ooredoo Mobile Money has provided an important service for the ‘under-banked’ in Qatar and around the world and the addition of the payroll option provides an important new service for businesses and for employees.”

He added: “Companies have the benefit of an easily-managed payment service that delivers directly to employees using Ooredoo’s bigger, faster network, while employees enjoy safe and secure salary transfers that they can access on their mobile phone.”

Abdulla Mubarak al-Khalifa, executive general manager and chief business officer, QNB Group, said: “QNB has a long and successful history working with Ooredoo to provide Mobile Money services and this additional new service is an important extension of goals of both sides. Offering a full suite of Mobile Money services will play a key role in making Doha into a truly smart city, providing everyone with the capacity to manage their accounts via their phone.”

QNB and Ooredoo will start providing the payroll via the Ooredoo Mobile Money Service in December for selected companies and roll-out the service across Qatar in 2015.

Since its launch, Ooredoo Mobile Money became one of the fastest-growing financial services in Qatar with more than QR100mn being remitted monthly from Qatar to countries including the Philippines, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Kenya, and Nigeria.

The addition of payroll services will benefit resident workers from these countries and around the world as well as Qatari national employees. With Ooredoo Mobile Money, customers can transfer money domestically and internationally, top-up their own and their family’s pre-paid accounts, and pay bills, all using their mobile phones, as well as receiving salary payments.

Ooredoo has also partnered with leading global payment services company MoneyGram to enable customers to send money for collection at 321,000 MoneyGram agents in 200 countries around the world.

Globally, Ooredoo is becoming a leader in Mobile Money services, managing more than 1mn transactions per month in Qatar, Tunisia, and Indonesia and plans to launch in further markets in the coming months.