New Delhi, July 9 (IANS): Vodafone India has entered into a strategic tie-up with Walmart India that will enable its business members of six Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, owned and operated by Walmart India, to make payments using M-Pesa from their mobile, a company statement said here on Thursday.

Walmart India is the wholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores Inc.

As a part of this partnership, Vodafone M-Pesa will enable safe, secure and convenient transactions for all its members in Lucknow, Amravati, Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada and Guntur to make faster payments and help Walmart ensure timely delivery of goods, the statement said.

Under this arrangement, when a best price store member based in any of these cities places an order with Walmart India, a Vodafone M-Pesa authorized agent will reach out to him/her and enable cash-in into his/her M-Pesa account.

Vodafone M-Pesa is a mobile wallet that enables services like money transfer, bill payments, and recharge on the move from the mobile. At present, Vodafone M-Pesa has a pan-India distribution of over 90,000 agents and more than three million customers.

"Starting with pilots in Amravati and Lucknow, we have now extended it to members in Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Guntur and Vijayawada and we hope to extend it pan-India soon," Suresh Sethi, business head - M-Pesa, Vodafone India, said.

"We are confident that our members, especially kiranas/resellers, will benefit due to the convenience of payment along with efficient delivery of quality products at their doorstep. We value our members and strive to give them an excellent shopping experience," said Rajneesh Kumar, vice-president and head - corporate affairs, Walmart India.