moneyMe, Malaysia’s first operator-independent mobile funds remittance service from Malaysia to Indonesia went live on July 1 for DiGi and Maxis subscribers and expectedly for Celcom subscribers by August.

Rahmat Pramono, counsellor – Economic Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia who was present at the launch believes the entirely SMS-based moneyMe, developed by Malaysian company Com 2U, will benefit especially Indonesians working in remote parts of Malaysia where banking facilities are scarce.

To register, users simply send an SMS with “REG MM” to the 32332 short code, after which they’ll be requested to create their personal profile with PIN number, secret name, nick name, full name, IC or passport number and transaction number via SMS to complete their registration.

After successful registration, they can load up their moneyMe account at over 5,000 e-pay terminals in book stores, photo shops, mini markets, convenience stores, pharmacies, restaurants and other places nationwide, plus another 5,000 more by September. An 80 sen service charge will be deducted from the amount credited to their moneyMe account.

To remit funds to a recipient in Indonesia, they simply send an SMS with the amount, beneficiary’s mobile number, name and identity card number to the 32332 short code. After going through the verification and confirmation process, the beneficiary will receive an SMS with an actual amount after deduction of the service fee from the original amount specified by the sender, which is debited from the sender’s moneyMe account.

This fee ranges from RM9 for an original amount for RM100 up to RM25 for RM500 – the maximum limit per transaction. Remittances are limited to RM50,000 per day.

To redeem the money, the beneficiary simply shows their phone with the SMS to any post office in Indonesia with Wesel Post Online service.

Currently, there are two million Indonesians working in Malaysia, who together remit RM1 billion home annually, according to official statistics. Com 2U chairman, Tan Sri Ahmad Mohd Don expects moneyMe to carry RM100 million of that within its first year and up to RM300 million per year thereafter, while Com 2U chief executive officer, Eugene Loke expects his company will earn up to RM40 million revenue a year from moneyMe.

Com 2U plans to enable domestic moneyMe remittance within Malaysia by September, to replicate the service in Hong Kong and Singapore later this year and is in discussions with a Philippines partner to enable remittances to that country.