Innovative mobile payments technology once again comes from Africa

"A lot has been said about creating innovative strategies for targeting unbanked citizens in Africa using mobile phones. But what about the banked? How can mobile phones reduce the costs and hassle of payments and transactions for businesses and consumers with bank accounts?

One company that believes it has an innovation that will change the way we shop and make payments is Oltio, a South African-based mobile banking, transactions and payments solution company that rolled out MTN Mobile Money in Africa." Continue Reading

International Mobile Banking Updates - Dec 4

Indian banks flip the switch on unified mobile banking platform
"India's push to provide access to financial services through mobile means took another step forward when Shri P. Chidambaram, India's Finance Minister, recently announced the launch of a National Unified USSD Platform by India's National Payment Corporation. The NUUP allows the millions of Indians who lack access to physical banking locations use a single SMS texting number to access services across all banks, regardless of wireless service provider, mobile handset maker or region."

Safaricom opens M-Pesa mobile banking service
"Safaricom is to begin offering M-Pesa customers a new mobile banking service, offering interest-bearing deposit accounts and loans. The telco has partnered with Kenay's largest commercial bank, CBA, to create the account, dubbed M-Shwari, which can be activated on deposits as low as one shilling. Safaricom CEO Bob Colllymore says M-Shwari will have no ledger fees, no limits on the frequency of withdrawals, no minimum operating balance and no charges on deposits for M-Pesa to M-Shwari accounts."

CBA responds to mobile banking demand
"In response to customer demand for a simple, personalised and mobile banking experience, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will be launching Kaching for Facebook, a redesigned Kaching for Android App and new sharing and tagging capability in NetBank. For the first time in Australia, CommBank will launch SmartSign technology that will allow Asset Finance customers to execute loan documents electronically from anywhere in the world."

Mobile banking in South Africa: Can MTN crack the market second time around?
"The network has partnered with the South African Bank of Athens as well as retailers Pick n Pay and Boxer Stores to introduce Mobile Money, it announced last week. Mobile Money is operated by TYME, a distribution channel of the South African Bank of Athens. The service allows customers to make payments from their mobile phones, including person-to-person money transfers as well as purchase prepaid electricity and airtime vouchers."

Banking services in your palm, just dial *99# from any handset
"Checking your bank balances or placing a request for a cheque book has been made as simple and hassle-free as dialling *99# from your mobile. Just dial *99# from your mobile of any make, every banking service, be it fund transfer or checking balances, comes at platter. Formally rolled out by Finance Minister P Chidambaram last Saturday at the national banking conference in Pune, as part of the government's financial inclusion programme, the service, one of the unique empowerment initiatives, is being facilitated by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)."

Mobile Banking SA Conference to address untapped opportunities outside the formal banking sector
"Developing simple, user-friendly mobile banking services with low-technology orientated solutions opens a world of opportunities for financial institutions who swiftly role out mobile banking offerings to the informal banking sector. The Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference to take place on the 13 & 14 March 2013, at the Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, will focus on why financial institutions cannot afford to lag behind with development of mobile banking products that service over 27% of South Africans that are unbanked and the 10% that are under-banked."

Mobile banking trend sparks fear of new fees
"Small businesses are worried that so-called mobile wallets will give banks and credit card companies a new way to gouge them and consumers both. A task force recommended nearly a year ago that Ottawa introduce legislation to give Canadians and businesses better tools to make payments digitally. But a committee set up by the Finance Department to further study the issue has been told businesses worry they’ll be hit with new fees as consumers adopt payment systems designed for their mobile devices."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 27

Consumers in developed economies are behind in mobile banking adoption.
"Developed, Western markets are playing catchup with the rest of the world when it comes to adoption of mobile banking, with countries such as Germany and Italy recording rates well below the global average. Mobile banking brings advantages in terms of engagement and service differentiation, and banks in these countries are missing out on this opportunity."

Airtel expands Mobile Banking to capture 50% of customers
"Airtel Ghana says it is further expanding its Mobile Money platform, particularly the Mobile Banking portfolio to give existing and prospective customers a wider range of usage opportunities aimed at capturing at least 50% of customers onto Airtel Money."

Nigeria: Sanusi - Value of Mobile Banking Transactions Rises to N4 Billion
"The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has disclosed that the value of transactions through mobile banking has increased significantly to N4 billion monthly, compared to the N20 million it was beginning of the year. Sanusi said this in an interview with journalists at the sideline of a forum organised by the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) in Lagos Thursday."

HSBCnet Mobile users authorise USD6 billion of payments
"A little over a year since its launch, HSBC’s corporate mobile banking service has been used to authorise USD6 billion worth of payments worldwide, including a single payment of USD50m. HSBCnet Mobile enables corporate treasurers to check account balances and statements, authorise payment instructions (including priority payments, payments in the Eurozone, inter-account transfers, bill payments and ACH credits/debits) and receive payment alerts using smartphones. In addition, users can authorise cross-border payments with ‘Get Rate’, which allows customers to view and instantly book foreign exchange rates when making foreign currency payments."

As mobile banking grows, Zong, Askari Bank join the race
"The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), according to sources in Zong, issued branchless banking licence to Zong and Askari Bank last Friday after auditing their pilot project, launched in May this year. This is the second branchless banking license issued by the SBP this month – the central bank had awarded a mobile financial services licence to Mobilink’s sister concern Waseela Bank."

Connected world: mobile commerce reaches tipping point
"Around half of the world’s mobile owners are ready to use their phone to make purchases and manage money – but mobile finance players must tailor their strategies to the conditions of each market to take full advantage. Use of mobile banking and mobile wallet services is set to surge worldwide as consumers respond to the promise of convenience, and look past security concerns. The Mobile Life 2012 study reveals that 50% of the world’s phone owners are either interested in mobile banking services or using them already, whilst 45 percent show the same level of enthusiasm for making payments using their phone."

Service charge on mobile banking halved
"The telecom regulator has halved the charges on mobile banking aiming at quick expansion of the service across the country. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in a circular issued on Tuesday slashed the charge to 1.0 per cent from the existing 2.0 per cent, which will come into effect from December 1."

MTN, Pick n Pay in banking tie-up
"MTN and Pick n Pay are poised to launch a mobile bank. Called Tyme, which stands for “take your money everywhere”, the venture will piggyback on the banking licence held by Bank of Athens. Tyme hopes to make mobile money transfers and mobile banking commonplace in South Africa, where consumers have to date failed to embrace similar offerings en masse."

The history of online and mobile banking in Ireland … so far (infographic)
"Online and mobile banking will be used by 83pc of Irish adults by 2015, according to an infographic produced by Danske Bank to coincide with the launch of Ireland’s first iPad banking app. Did you know there are 3.2m users of online banking in Ireland and that six out of 10 smartphone owners use mobile banking? According to the infographic, remote banking has come a long way since the first mobile network was launched in Ireland in 1987."

Sanusi: Value of Mobile Banking Transactions Rises to N4bn
"The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has disclosed that the value of transactions through mobile banking has increased significantly to N4 billion monthly, compared to the N20 million it was beginning of the year. Sanusi said this in an interview with journalists at the sideline of a forum organised by the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) in Lagos Thursday."

Corporation Bank allows mobile banking facilities via Tablet PCs, iPads
"The public sector bank, Corporation Bank, has started providing its customers the facility to carry out banking transactions through tablet PCs and iPads. This latest development of the bank in the digital banking space was announced by the Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Ajai Kumar."

Mobile banking set for sharp rise
"A study in 2011 has revealed that mobile banking constitutes 0.1 per cent of total banking transactions. It is the second largest transaction medium after ATM, said Ajai Kumar, chairman and managing director of Corporation Bank here on Thursday. He was addressing the students at the TA Pai endowment lecture programme with the theme " Digital Banking." The programme was organised by Mangalore University."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 22

Rwanda: Mobile Banking Changes the Way We Do Business
"It was just a matter of seconds before Giovanni Higiro finished paying his fares to a motorcyclist, without touching his wallet. As if they were exchanging numbers, Higiro was able to pay Claude Habineza by transferring money from his mobile phone Mobile Money account to the motorcyclist's electronic wallet. Like Higiro, many people are now enjoying the new mobile banking products that now allow one to pay their bills and buy goods using their mobile phones. One can make payments of as little as Rwf100."

Ethiopia Permits Mobile Banking and Money Services
"Ethiopia is one of the last countries in Africa to permit mobile banking. Mobile banking has proved to be profitable in the developing world, where many people still do not use banks. Earlier this year, the World Bank reported that seventy-five percent of the world’s poor are “unbanked.” That is about two point five billion people. Banking through mobile telephones lets people take part in financial services even if they are not near a bank office."

Evolution of mobile payment
"Mobile phones have been a rapidly evolving channel for various payment systems, some bank-led and some agnostic of banks involving mobile operators. According to annual report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on payment system trends in 2011-12, transactions pertaining to prepaid instruments (PPIs) to the tune of Rs 6,200 crore took place during 2011-12, and in the same period, mobile banking transactions to the tune of around Rs 1,820 crore were effected. These were outside of the national electronic clearing system that primarily covers internet-based funds transfer."

MTN Mobile Banking Ready to go Commercial
"MTN Ghana says it has been piloting Mobile Banking on its Mobile Money platform for a while now and it is now ready to go commercial with it. Head of MTN Mobile Money, Eli Hini told Adom News the service has been available to Fidelity Bank customers, and allowed users to move money from their mobile wallet into their bank account, and vice-a-versa; allow checking of bank balance, accessing mini statements and also allows cardless withdrawal of cash from some of Fidelity Bank’s ATMs."

Mobile Banking International Updates - May 10

MTN Says Subscribers Advanced 3.7% to 170.6 Million in March
"Africa’s largest mobile-phone company, said subscriptions rose 3.7 percent in the first quarter as users were attracted to its data packages and mobile banking facilities. MTN had 170.6 million subscribers at the end of March, compared with 164.5 million at the end of December, the Johannesburg-based company said today. In Nigeria, the company’s biggest market, it added 1.26 million new customers while South Africa contributed 3.2 percent more users, MTN said."

RHB Now Mobile Banking app available "
Mobile Banking app is now available on iPhone, iPad, Android and other smartphones for free. Customers who download it will be able to enjoy mobile banking services such as Account Enquiry, Bill Payment, Fund Transfer, Prepaid reload, Branch/ATM locator and Assistance."

AhnLab Reports the Analysis of the Best Apps in the Android Market
"AhnLab, Inc. ( http://global.ahnlab.com ), a leading provider of integrated security solutions, today announced that its research has identified many popular Android apps are asking for excessive permissions to access to the user data. AhnLab analyzed 178 best rated android apps using AhnLab Mobile Smart Defense (AMSD), cloud-based application analysis platform which verifies the security of Android apps. AMSD scanned 178 apps in five different types of permissions including: Personal information access, service information access, location information access, service charging and device information access. In this analysis, the degree of risk was marked on a scale from 1 to 100 by each type of permission, and the apps recorded 60 and above are classified as malicious."

Tanzania: PBZ Set for Mobile Money Transfer
THE People's Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) plans to introduce mobile money transfer (Z-Pesa by Zantel) later this year to cater for the rising demand for financial services. The PBZ's Director of Marketing and Business Development, Mr Juma Hafidh, made the remarks over the weekend in Dar es Salaam at the launching of a special local television programme 'Mwana Dar es Salaam.' 'The installation of the mobile system has been completed and what remains is finalisation of some logistics with regulatory bodies,' he said."

The Mauritius Commercial Bank Delivers the First Mobile Banking Service in Mauritius with Oracle FLEXCUBE Direct Banking
"Oracle today announced that The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB), the oldest and largest banking institution in Mauritius, and one of the leading banking institutions in the Indian Ocean and in the Sub-Saharan region, has implemented Oracle FLEXCUBE Direct Banking to provide internet and mobile banking services to customers. MCB is the first bank in Mauritius to introduce mobile banking services and 96 per cent of its registered mobile banking users are already actively using the facility."

Developing Countries Are Revolutionizing Mobile Banking
"Barclays of U.K. launched Pingit, a service that lets people send and receive money using a smartphone. But this isn't the first big innovation in mobile banking. These innovations are already happening in developing countries. Poor countries are jumping ahead of rich ones by building a 21st century infrastructure (because they have little legacy infrastructure to begin with). For example, India has leapfrogged from no land-line telephones to the latest in wireless telephony. That revolution, in turn, is causing India to leapfrog brick-and-mortar banking to wireless banking for the masses. We see similar patterns in other poor countries as well. Mobile money transfer in Africa, M-Pesa, is a case in point. Counterintuitive as it may seem, poor countries may be ahead of rich countries in mobile banking."

Canadians embracing mobile banking
"The benefits of owning a smartphone are many: Handling work issues when you’re not in the office, staying connected with friends and family, settling that late-night bet about John Travolta. But for millions of Canadians, smartphones are becoming their go-to device for paying bills and checking bank account balances."

Mobile banking in India does not need a one-size-fits-all solution
"Mobile banking is a new generation platform available to customers for conducting balance inquiries, account transactions, utility payments, and other banking activities using a mobile handset. Mobile banking services in India started with SMS banking way back in 2002. With an increasing mobile subscriber base in India, mobile banking has picked up steam in recent years."

Mobile Banking Updates - Jul 22

Mobile Money Application Now Available on Apple App Store
"Monitise Americas today announced the launch of its Mobile Money application on the App Store. Mobile Money gives iPhone and iPod touch users simple access to their account information using a dynamic application that is easy to navigate and safe to use. Mobile Money is a leading global solution for mobile banking and payment services. It is the world's first mobile banking ecosystem, empowering consumers to perform banking and payment transactions using a single consistent interface -- regardless of choice of mobile operator."

Mobile Banking Use Jumps
"Mobile banking adoption tripled in a year, to 21% of consumers, among America's youngest adults, according to a survey that Mercatus LLC is expected to release today. 'We're approaching an inflection point where banks are no longer just testing mobile banking," said Robert B. Hedges Jr., managing partner of the Boston consulting firm. "It will be table stakes, where consumers are going to expect banks to offer these services to them.'"

Companies Count On Growth Of Mobile Banking
"Banks and other financial companies have their eye on your mobile phone. Now that 87 percent of people in the U.S. are carrying cell phones, big companies like MasterCard believe mobile banking could experience significant growth."

Bling Nation and Viaero Wireless
"Bling Nation, a mobile payments provider, announced its partnership with Viaero Wireless, a nationwide wireless network provider based in Fort Morgan, Colo., which provides national cellular coverage, to provide mobile payments to the La Junta, Colo. community."

MTN launches mobile banking service
"MTN subscribers will now be able to perform various banking transactions on their mobile phones. Known as the MTN Mobile Money. The service allows subscribers to pay for utility services, transfer money and buy air time credits for now."