Money-transfer agent Western Union Co. and British mobile phone outfit Vodafone are testing a service which will allow people to send money to Kenya from Britain using their mobiles.

Through Western Union agents in Reading, Mobile phone users will be able to transfer money to subscribers of Kenyan cell carrier, Safaricom.

Vodafone owns 40 percent of Safaricom, which already operates a mobile payment service in Kenya.

Nick Hughes, Vodafone's head of international mobile payments, in a press release said that there was a huge demand for easily accessible, secure cash payment services in emerging markets.