A new joint venture between MasterCard, eServglobal and BICS aims to grow the market for mobile remittances by linking the credit card giant’s relationships around the world with financial institutions with its new partners’ community of mobile operators.

Called Homesend, the MasterCard-controlled venture has the same name as the hub previously built by eServGlobal and BICS to enable international payments to be transferred via mobile phone.

The hub has commercial contracts with mobile operators and money transfer operators representing more than 1.2 billion subscribers and 200,000 cash agents worldwide, said the companies.

The new joint venture will enable users to send money to and from mobile money accounts, payment cards, bank accounts or cash outlets.  Adding MasterCard increases the range of options for paying in and collecting cash.

“We are very happy to be part of this significant milestone for the mobile financial services industry, and believe this type of service can open up new remittance corridors and expand the scope of money transfers around the world,” said Daniel Kurgan (pictured), CEO of BICs.