BSNL to launch ‘Mobile Money Transfer’ service
BSNL will soon launch ‘Mobile Money Transfer’ service to offer banking facilities to its customers.
According to General Manager Vijay Kumar, BSNL Bihar, with this service, customers would easily pay their bills via mobile or fixed line phones. Customer can avail this service by simply calling their banks to transfer money for the payment of the bill.
The BSNL has sealed the deal with State Bank of India (SBI) for the execution of the proposed money transfer scheme.
Referring to the jamming on the BSNL network in Kishanganj district, the company proposed to set up 10 new base transceiver station (BTS) in the district to reduce the problem.
Maroc Telecom launches mobile service Mobi Cash (Morocco)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Launch of mobile service Mobi Cash has been announced by the major wireless and fixed line telecom operator in Morocco, Maroc Telecom, in partnership with Comviva which provides mobile solutions beyond VAS.
Comviva’s mobiquit mCommerce solution will be used by the Moroccan operator enabling mobile operators and financial institutions to offer secured and cost-effective mobile banking, mobile wallet and mobile payment services.
According to Sabri Amireh, Vice President, MENA Region, Comviva, the company is focusing strongly on delivering mCommerce solutions for the rapidly growing markets, as demand for transformational mobile financial services is significant.
As per a research, mobile phone will be used by over 100 million users globally for international money transfers by 2013. The mobile international transfers are expected to exceed an average of one transaction per month. Western Europe, North America and Africa and Middle East (MEA) will account for more than 75% of the global international mobile money transfer gross transaction value by 2013.
BSNL to launch Mobile Banking in India
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile Money Transfer Services is set to be launched by India’s state owned telco, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited in participation with SBI and YES Bank on electronic platform.
Money orders could be send by the mobile subscribers electronically through text messages (SMS) with the help of this innovative plan. For this, the customers are required to go to the nearest post office and transfer the money by SMS. The receiver can collect the money by showing the unique code contained in the SMS to the post office in his locality.
The service has already been test piloted in Chandigarh and it will soon be rolled out after Reserve Bank’s approval.
Zain’s money transfer service reaches West Africa
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After a huge success of the concept of mobile money transfer in East Africa and particularly Kenya, Zain has announced to expand its mobile commerce service Zap to Niger, Sierra Leone and a full commercial pilot project in Malawi.
With this move, six African markets would be covered by the service with a combined population of 150 million people. The concept launched in February last year would complement the financial services sector in the continent as the mobile phone users will be able to send and receive money, pay for services as well as interact with their bank accounts using the service.
According Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group chief executive, the expansion of the service is an important step in pushing the boundaries of mobile communications and with the kind of impact the Zap had in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, similar impact is hoped by Zain in Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone, where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban hubs.
Zain has entered into a partnership with the National Bank of Malawi (NBM) and NBS Banks in Malawi, EcoBank in Niger and Zenith Bank in Sierra Leone besides working with Citibank and Standard Chartered in East Africa.
M-Pesa launches in UK (Kenya)
Vodafone’s group company, Safarikom has launched m-pesa, it’s mobile money transfer and payment service at selected outlets in the UK.
Kenyans in the UK can now send money to their friends and family in Kenya through M-pesa UK, direct to their mobile phone wallets.
Western Union, Provident Capital Transfers and KenTv were involved in a small pilot before the commercial launch of this service. A total of 19 outlets with high local kenyan population were selected to trial this service.
To send money using M-PESA, the sender in UK will be required to identify themselves and furnish the agent with the recipient’s name, Kenyan mobile number and the amount being sent in Sterling Pounds. This will be converted at current rates and sent in Kenyan Shillings. Neither party is charged a registration fee.
A transaction fee ranging from £4 to £6.90 will be charged though.
Following authorisation by the Central Bank of Kenya, Safaricom shall be increasing the locations in the UK from which money can be sent to M-pesa customers as well as launching services across other popular remittance corridors
Currently, the maximum amount that can be sent internationally per transaction through M-pesa is £250 while the total allowable per month from a single sender in the UK is £1,000.
The successful take-up of M-PESA in Kenya has clearly demonstrated the demand for easily accessible, secure cash payment services in emerging markets,†said Nick Hughes, Vodafone’s Head of International Mobile Payments. Our partnership with Western Union allows M-PESA subscribers to receive international remittances and builds on the demand we have already seen domestically in Kenya.â€
This program aligns a global leader in money-transfer services, the world’s largest mobile operator group, and arguably one of the most impressive success stories in mobile money,†said Matt Dill, Senior Vice President, Western Union Digital Ventures. In offering M-PESA users the opportunity to receive funds from abroad for the first time, these three companies are changing the way money moves around the
globe.â€
Safaricom CEO Michael Joseph said: We wish to invite Kenyans living in the UK to take advantage of this service, which presents a real innovation on our M-pesa menu. Through strategic partnerships with Western Union, Provident Capital and KenTV we are giving them an opportunity to convert across two currencies into M-pesa and send money affordably without any hidden costs directly to the mobile phone of the recipient.â€
Western Union, GSMA to create mobile money transfer service
The GSM Association and money transfer services specialist The Western Union Company have announced an agreement to facilitate the development of cross-border mobile money transfer services. Western Union and the GSMA are developing a commercial and technical framework that mobile operators can use to deploy services that enable consumers to send and receive low-denomination, high frequency money transfers using mobile phones. The Western Union mobile service will connect operators to Western Union’s existing global money transfer system. Once connected to the Western Union service, operators will be able to use their own mobile wallet software to enable person-to-person mobile money transfers over Western Union’s cross-border remittance network. The Mobile Money Transfer service will enable consumers to transfer money to or from mobile wallets and will offer a global network of Western Union Agent locations for cash-to-mobile and mobile-to-cash transactions. Thirty-five GSMA operators are participating in the GSMA Mobile Money Transfer programme. The first commercial services that make use of the framework are anticipated to be rolled out in the second quarter of 2008.
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