Mobile Money Transactions

Telepin Powers New Etisalat Afghanistan mHawala Service

Today Etisalat Afghanistan commercially launched mHawala, its new Mobile Money Services platform and we are pleased to share that Telepin is providing the infrastructure for the service.   The mHawala service is a full mobile financial services (MFS) offering that includes central bank cooperation, banking ecosystem participation, utility merchant involvement, and salary disbursement, which enables complete mobile banking capabilities and future cross-border money transfers.
 
Dr. Ali Asgharzadeh, Chief Commercial Officer-Enterprise at Etisalat explains, “Mobile density in Afghanistan is currently at 50 percent and is growing rapidly. However, 95 percent of Afghan’s do not have access to banking infrastructure. This unique market cross-section creates a need for the investment we are making in Telepin’s Cayman platform.  We can now introduce a much-needed innovative service to the market with mHawala. We have chosen Telepin because the company is a key leader and innovator in the mobile money marketplace.”
 
Telepin’s Cayman Transaction platform plays a key operational role in the distribution and management of airtime, and will be extended with subscriber wallets for MFS services.
 
Etisalat Afghanistan is the first mobile network operator in Afghanistan to offer this entire range of Mobile Financial Services. Telepin MFS products provide mobile operators the ability to deliver robust financial services offering to their subscriber and merchant customers. Telepin’s software plugs seamlessly into existing mobile infrastructure, leveraging the investments already made in charging systems, replenishment systems, and value added service delivery platforms.

Telepin Powers Mobile Financial Services in Papua New Guinea

As a provider of mobile money transaction platforms, we get to work in some of the most interesting and remote parts of the world.  One such place is Papua New Guinea (PNG) where we were recently selected to power Digicel Group’s cellmoni mobile money service.  This service includes all the normal things you’d expect, as well as the ability to transfer money to friends and family anywhere in the country.  Also powered by Telepin and hosted on the Digicel network are Post PNG’s MobileSMK and MiCash from Nationwide Microbank.
 
There appears to be great demand by residents of PNG for a system that enhances cash safety, which includes phone transfers and a means to transact, store and accumulate value for later use.    The solutions from Digicel, Post PNG and Nationwide Microbank are delivering a best-in-class solution that extends value to PNG mobile subscribers, merchant networks and ecosystem partners.
 
Telepin’s Cayman Transaction platform is used by all three providers for mobile financial services (MFS) offerings.  The service is regulated by the Central Bank of PNG and has been developed in partnership with Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) with a view to promoting financial inclusion within PNG and the region.
 
For more details, you can read the press release.

Rfinity is one of many new investments driving Mobile Money forward in 2011

Investments in Mobile Money systems are increasing – a sure sign that not only is innovation in the space accelerating, but the prospects of monetary return are also cropping up.

RFinity is one company that’s looking to make it big with a $4 million dollar investment from Hong Kong based Horizon Ventures. As well as promising intra-device compatibility and a speedy transaction, RFinity are also adding a layer of security to NFC based monetary transactions, and they’re taking a leaf out of the card payment  book, and adding a four digit PIN number to the transaction.

Not only is this something that will be instantly familiar to many users (thus reinforcing the market education that contactless payment is just an extension of credit and debit cards), but it also answers question like “what happens if my phone is stolen?”

The software driving the transactions is the goal of many of these companies – not only does it mean huge order books that can be used to leverage more R&D, but you can assume that a little rake on the top of each transaction would be a nice little earner. Getting adoption in key trials, expanding them, and the marketing that’s needed is where many of these companies need the extra cash base that investors can provide. It’s going to be a busy year for the VC funds!