Orascom Telecom could acquire microfinance bank
March 11, 2010, 3:56 am

Orascom Telecom, parent organisation of Pakistan’s leading cellular company, is in talks to acquire a microfinance bank in order to enter the financial business and strengthen its appearance in the country. The News has learnt that a delegation of Orascom comprising almost seven members including the former CEO Mobilink Zohair Khaliq is currently in Pakistan to look this deal. In this regard the first round of talk between the Orascom people and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was already held while the company has seriously been looking to acquire the microfinance bank in order to improve the mobile commerce services. The team .

Mobile Banking Provider, YellowPepper, Supported 47 Million Financial Transactions Through Mobile In 2009
March 11, 2010, 3:48 am

YellowPepper, a provider of mobile financial services in Latin America, hasannounced that the company supported 47 million transactions in 2009, and is well on track to surpass the number in the current year. The company offers solutions and capabilities on which financial institutions, retailers and both banked and unbanked consumers rely for their needs related to financial activities through the mobile medium.Having established strong relationships with a number of well known financial institutions across the Latin American region including Banco Pichincha in Ecuador; Banco AV Villas, Banco De Bogota, Banco De Occidente and Banco Popular in Colombia; Banco de Credito in

What will it take to make mobile payments mainstream in the US?
March 11, 2010, 3:42 am

The tech industry’s been talking about mobile payments for years, and I find the whole discussion fascinating. Not just the potential and the rhetoric, but the gap that exists between the two. I even spent a year working at a yet-to-launch mobile payments company, BillToMobile. But to be honest, we’re still at least about five years away from seeing mobile payments go mainstream. We’re at “the wind at your back stage,” where the possibilities seem endless, and will soon enter “the wind in your face stage,” where reality kicks in. And on the way from one stage to the other, we’ll

With Mobile Model Playing Well in India, Citi Turns to U.S.
March 11, 2010, 3:18 am

A mobile payments business model Citigroup Inc. tested in India has proven a hit among all the key players, even wireless carriers.Observers have often said that U.S. carriers, well known for maintaining strict control of their hardware and pricing, would be unwilling to support payments chips in their phones without a cut of the transaction revenue. But bankers are reluctant to share these fees, and the India test offers a viable alternative: subsidizing the cost of the phone.Though Citi executives stressed that paying for phones is not part of their long-term strategy, analysts said the idea could give mobile payments enough of

Media owners cash in on the goldrush for Mobile Marketing apps
March 10, 2010, 9:35 am

It is easy to see why the media world is getting so excited about mobile apps: quite simply, consumers love them.Colin McCaffrey, director of products at apps developer 2ergo, which created theGuardian's app, explains: "Apps are simple to download and use, and they are packaged so people feel comfortable paying for them."There are currently more than 150,000 applications in the Apple apps store and more than 10,000 apps designed for Google's Android mobile operating system.Last September, Apple announced that more than two billion apps had been downloaded from its apps store; by March, it had passed three billion. Comscore estimates

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Releases Whitepaper on Rich Media Mobile Advertising
March 10, 2010, 9:03 am

What:    To educate the mobile marketing industry about currently available Rich Media mobile ad units, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today announced the publication of a new whitepaper on Rich Media Mobile Advertising, now available for download athttp://mmaglobal.com/files/file/RichMediaWhitepaper.pdfThe whitepaper includes definitions, attributes and examples of Rich Media advertising that are currently being used in the marketplace.  With this document, the MMA created a definition for Rich Media Mobile Ad Units, which are interactive and/or non-interactive ad units displayed on a mobile web page and/or in a mobile application that offers one or more of the following: (i.) inclusion of streaming video

An App for Donating Money While You Shop - CauseWorld
March 10, 2010, 8:54 am

A cellphone app called CauseWorld has figured out a way for advertisers to turn their marketing dollars into charitable donations, and Procter & Gamble, Citi and Kraft are on board.When iPhone or Android users open the app, it uses the phone’s GPS to present a list of nearby stores. When they enter a store and check in — as you would with Foursquare or Gowalla — they earn so-called karma points. They can donate the karma points to their choice of 15 charities, and the advertisers make the donation.The companies get appearances on a cellphone user’s screen and users can also send branded

TransferTo team up with hyperWALLET to offer international airtime recharge in Canada
March 10, 2010, 3:23 am

TransferTo, theglobal airtime transfer company, today announced its partnership withhyperWALLET Systems Inc., a leading provider of worldwide paymentsolutions, to offer cross-border airtime transfer for Canada.The service is mainly offered to foreign communities, internationalworkers, and visitors who maintain strong ties with their families and relativesabroad.Although theyremit part of their earnings every month directly to the household head, theylack an appropriate service for sending smaller amounts to their family andfriends. This new service addressing the Canadian market complements cross-bordermoney remittances with the repeated sending of small value airtime recharges.TransferTo comes as the perfect solution for giving out airtime recharges as agift on

Mobey Forum publishes white paper which examines the role of the secure element in the Mobile Financial Services ecosystem
March 10, 2010, 1:55 am

Mobey Forum, the global leader indefining a sustainable and prosperous mobile financial services ecosystem, hasreleased a white paper which examines the important role of the secure elementin delivering mobile payment services to end users.  The paper, which willbe of particular interest to senior management and other decision makers infinancial institutions, is free to download from www.mobeyforum.org. Entitled ‘Alternatives for Banks toOffer Secure Mobile Payments’, the white paper provides an analysis of themobile financial ecosystem, its stakeholders, and the value chain positions thatcan be achieved by banks though different business models.  The paper’skey focus is on the role of the secure

International air time transfer market heats up
March 10, 2010, 1:20 am

Vesta Corporation (http://www.trustvesta.com), a global pioneer and leader in electronic payment solutions, today announced the launch of Prepaid.com (http://www.prepaid.com), a recharge portal that allows mobile customers to send airtime to friends and family worldwide. The portal features immediate, no-fee recharging for prepaid mobile phone accounts and allows expatriates and immigrants to maintain strong family ties, regardless of distance and borders. Prepaid.com provides mobile operators with a plug and play solution that supports in-country and cross-border recharge for mobile services such as prepaid airtime, subscriptions, and mobile broadband. The new portal helps mobile operatorscapitalize on the billions of cross-border payments sent annually, and includes a variety of consumer-friendly features that

Mobile to Web Commerce Integration: AsiaPay Launches PesoPay Online Payment Service with Globe GCASH
March 9, 2010, 9:07 am

AsiaPay, the leading electronic payment gateway provider, has launched PesoPay online payment service with Globe GCASH. PesoPay via GCASH facility enables real-time internet payment to reach millions of GCASH mobile commerce customers in the Philippines and around the world.Founded in 2000, AsiaPay provides a comprehensive suite of payment processing capabilities for banks, corporations, SMEs and charities. On the other hand, GCASH was launched in 2004 by Globe Telecom through its wholly-owned mobile commerce subsidiary, G-Xchange Inc. GCASH is a mobile wallet facility available to Globe and TM subscribers that allows cashless and cardless method of facilitating money remittance, donations, loan

Safaricom partners with insurance company to deliver mobile insurance payouts in Africa
March 9, 2010, 8:50 am

East Africa's largest mobile phone operator, Safaricom, has partnered with pan-African insurer UAP to offer low-cost mobile phone payments and data systems to thousands of farmers in the region.The project is the first in the Eastern and Southern Africa region to use mobile phones to set up insurance contracts and issue payout to farmers using Safaricom's M-pesa service, a mobile money service transfer system. The data system will be transmitted through Safaricom's expansive national 3G network. Safaricom is the only mobile operator in East Africa currently operating on a 3G network.The project, dubbed "Kilimo Salama," which in Kiswahili means safe

Company Announcement: Monitise Americas to Speak at CTIA Conference in Las Vegas
March 9, 2010, 8:46 am

Monitise Americas today announced that managing director, Soren Bested, will speak at the educational conference program during International CTIA WIRELESS 2010®, taking place March 22-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.Soren will participate on the “International” panel during the Special Interest Seminar titled Money over Mobile and will discuss global mobile money trends and technical innovations. This full day Industry Development event brings together the thought leaders and innovators in the niche area of using the mobile phone to transact mobile financial services. Soren joins an elite group of successful leaders from the wireless industry, dedicated to providing financial services over the mobile.“Mobile .

Over Rwf60 Million Moved in Mobile Money Transfers by MTN in Rwanda
March 9, 2010, 8:37 am

Kigali — About Rwf60 million has been moved in daily transactions, with the use of the 'Mobile Money' facility, a month after it was launched, MTN Rwanda officials said last week.Andrew Rugege, the MTN Chief Executive Officer (COO) told Business Times on Friday that daily transactions had increased since the 'Mobile Money' platform was launched and added that active subscribers are close to 30,000 of the over 1 million MTN mobile clients."The majority are active mobile money customers who have been on MTN. We have a good number who have come on board since we launched because of this value

MoreMagic Solutions & Western Union Launch International Air-Time Recharge Service to Mexico
March 9, 2010, 8:31 am

MoreMagic Solutions, a leading mobile financial solutions provider, and Telcel, the largest mobile operator in Mexico, subsidiary of America Movil, announced today that international friends and family of Telcel customers are now able to recharge Telcel mobile phones, and transfer electronic airtime for Telcel's prepaid users, using the MoreMagic Solutions International Recharge Hub.  From 46,000 Western Union Agent locations throughout the United States, as well as additional international retail locations, or the web - www.etopuponline.com, a customer can purchase a gift of prepaid airtime, or transfer electronic airtime, to a Telcel phone.The MoreMagic Solutions platform offers international recharge, or "TopUp" transactions and settlements for

Citibank Says RFID Pilot Proves Strong Consumer Interest in Mobile-Phone Payments
March 8, 2010, 11:46 pm

Mar. 8, 2010—Having concluded what it deems the world's largest Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless payment pilot,Citibank indicates it believes there is strong consumer demand for mobile payment solutions. But with a scarcity of available NFC-enabled phones, alternatives such as NFC stickers or microSD cards may be necessary in order to get NFC deployments off the ground, the company reports. The pilot included 3,141 Citibank credit card holders who, at the company's initiation, purchasedNokia NFC-enabled 6212 mobile phones from participating Nokia shops, to pay for goods at 250 merchant locations in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India. Nearly 50,000 payments were completed throughout the 26-week span,

Globe widens remittance corridors to Belgium, UK, US
March 8, 2010, 11:43 pm

MANILA, Philippines - Belgacom International Carrier Services (BICS), a leading global provider of voice, data and value added services and G-Xchange (GXI), the mobile-commerce subsidiary of Globe Telecommunications Inc., have signed an agreement to expand GXI’s existing number of remittance corridors, using BICS’ HomeSend Remittance Hub.The HomeSend service, created in partnership with eServGlobal, provides a mobile-centric approach to international remittance. It allows subscribers of any mobile operator connected to HomeSend to transfer money electronically via a cellular phone to a GCASH subscriber.This new cooperation, therefore, provides increased choice and convenience for Filipinos living or working overseas when sending money home to their families and

China Mobile hammered for unexplained banking splurge
March 8, 2010, 8:35 am

The problem with having enough cash on your balance sheet to bail out a medium-sized country is that everyone has a use for it. Last week, China Mobile revealed some loose change from its $30 billion-plus cash pile would be used to buy a 20% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.It might have been only a $5 billion investment, or just 3% of China Mobile's(HK:941 73.95, +1.00, +1.37%) (CHL 47.65, +0.25, +0.53%) market cap, but investor reaction was brutal, wiping over $10 billion off its total capitalization.Rather than try to piece together what was happening as the news dripped out, investors hit the sell button. The stock, the

Open Source Banking: Innovating despite banks who remain out of touch
March 8, 2010, 8:30 am

Since writing BANK 2.0 I've been meeting constantly with banks who either have such huge organizational barriers to rapid innovation or conceptually still don't appreciate the need for rapid change around customer. In fact, this is a global problem. Banks know how to run banks, but as they are pushed more to be something more akin to software houses, design houses, and integrators, their organizations are just not built for new priorities.Think of it this way, when Amazon first launched on the scene, other booksellers like Barnes and Noble were extremely resistant to the concept of online book sales because .

Wirelesss carriers offer a system to turn your cellphone into a payment machine
March 8, 2010, 8:20 am

Canada's major wireless carriers have announced a new mobile money system that can turn your cellphone into a wireless payment machine.EnStream LP, a joint venture of Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus, launched a three-month pilot project for the Zoompass Tag, a sticker that converts your mobile phone into a virtual credit or debit card when it's swiped across a point-of-sale terminal at a checkout.It's a little like having a prepaid coffee or gas card. Order up a coffee or fill the tank, swipe your phone and it's paid.

hyperWALLET Launches Global Mobile Airtime Top-Ups
March 8, 2010, 8:14 am

Mar 08, 2010 – Vancouver BC, March 8, 2010 – hyperWALLET Systems, a leading provider of global payment solutions, today announced its launch of a new worldwide mobile airtime top-up service for the Canadian market. The new hyperWALLET service enables consumers to electronically send airtime credits to mobile phones, across more than 70 wireless carriers in 25 countries worldwide. The service is enabled through a platform technology integration and business partnership with TransferTo™, a leading international airtime transfer network provider. “Cross-border remittances continue to be a major driving force for migrants sending value home to relatives in other countries, particularly for ethnic

ViVOtech's President and Founder, Mohammad Khan answers five burning questions on "what’s next" with mobile payments.
March 7, 2010, 9:46 pm

ViVOtech, a leading end-to-end enabler of next generation mobile payments, loyalty, and marketing solutions, provides Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payment solutions, mobile marketing and loyalty applications software, Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning infrastructure software, NFC smart posters, and contactless terminals.Looking into his crystal ball, Khan sees the future of payments shifting toward mobile as consumers grow increasingly attached to their mobile devices. He believes the move to mobile will provide added benefit to both the consumer and merchant as it increases competition and decreases associated fees.Khan shares how ViVOtech is driving mobile payment innovation and how it is opening doors for

VeriFone Brings Out The Big Guns In Its War With Square: Apple Stores
March 7, 2010, 9:38 pm

It’s no secret that VeriFone hopes to eliminate mobile startup Square before it even officially launches. Not only did they unveil their PAYware Mobile credit card-reading devicejust a week after Square made headlines with its unveiling, but they almost immediately started a major advertising push in places such as New York City cabs. And now they have perhaps their strongest weapon yet in the fight: placement in Apple stores.Starting this month, Apple retails stores around the country will begin selling the PAYware Mobile reader (which is required for the accompanying app to work). It will also be sold through Apple’s online store. VeriFone CEO Doug Bergeron disclosed this information

China Unicom, unlike China Mobile, currently has no plans to invest in a bank to deliver mobile payments
March 7, 2010, 9:20 pm

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHU) is working with Apple Inc. (AAPL) on introducing the iPhone with WiFi functions to China as soon as possible, China Unicom Chief Executive Chang Xiaobing said Saturday, without giving a more specific timetable.Meeting with reporters on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, Chang added that if the company releases a WiFi-enabled iPhone, it will consider compensating current users who lack the function by allowing greater use of the company's third-generation network.Government regulations had forced Unicom to launch the iconic smartphone in China without WiFi, but newly revised regulations now make it

Micro-insurance plan uses mobile phones and weather stations to shield Kenya's farmers
March 5, 2010, 7:34 am

ELDORET, KENYA (5 March 2010)—As East Africa recovers from the worst drought in decades, an innovative program launched today will use a low-cost, mobile phone payment and data system, and automated, solar powered weather stations, to offer thousands of farmers in parts of Western and Central Kenya affordable, "pay as you plant" insurance to protect their investments in desperately needed high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, as well as other farm inputs.The program, called "Kilimo Salama," which in Kiswahili means "safe farming," is a partnership between the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, UAP Insurance, and telecoms operator Safaricom. The project will offer farmers

Citi to launch a mobile payment service in India
March 5, 2010, 7:29 am

Bangalore: The Indian arm of Citigroup Inc. aims to commercially launch a touch-based, mobile phone payment technology by December, provided multiple players invest in the required infrastructure.This follows a 26-week pilot project in Bangalore using near-field communication (NFC) technology with around 3,000 customers, 250 merchant locations and nearly 50,000 purchases worth Rs2.6 crore..

Enstream to pilot Zoompass mobile payment sticker
March 5, 2010, 7:26 am

Toronto’s EnStream LP is launching a pilot of their new The Zoompass Tag, a 43 mm by 33 mm sticker that can be attached to a mobile phone to make contactless purchases.According to Robin Dua, President of EnStream LP, pilot participants will be able to pay for their morning coffee, gas at the pump, and lunch at a fast-food restaurants using only their mobile phones..

The government in Bangladesh thinks the mobile phone is as a key medium of electronic service delivery to citizens
March 5, 2010, 7:17 am

N a resource-starved country like Bangladesh, where almost forty percent of the population earns less than a dollar a day, providing access via desktop solutions is untenable. On the other hand, the growth in mobile industry in the past decade and the reach of mobile phones in the rural areas have turned cell phones into the most accessible and affordable form of technology for the masses and an obvious choice of service delivery channel for public agencies.As part of its agenda to build a Digital Bangladesh, the government has identified the mobile phone as a key medium of electronic service .

Sri Lankan Mobile Operator, Etisalat, mulls mobile phone banking
March 5, 2010, 7:13 am

Riyaaz Rasheed deputy chief executive of Etisalat Lanka said the mobile operator is seeking to tie-up with banks to offer the financial services."We're already talking to two of the biggest banks in Sri Lanka," he told LBO. Rasheed declined to identify the banks, citing non-disclosure agreements signed with them.Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates-based telecom firm, acquired 100 percent of the Sri Lanka operation called Tigo from Millicom International in October 2009 and has renamed it Etisalat Lanka..