MTN Rolls Out Fundamos Mobile Wallet in Africa
- Monday, March 16th, 2009
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African operator MTN Group has chosen Fundamos Mobile Wallet solution to power its MTN MobileMoney service, which will be available to a subscriber base of over 80 million users across 21 countries in Africa.
Fundamo says the deal, worth $9.7 million (6.9 million), is the largest mobile banking software deal ever announced, and will bring basic financial services to MTN mobile subscribers in largely unbanked populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. The deal is an extension of the existing relationship between MTN and Fundamo, expanding MTN MobileMoney from South Africa into 20 additional countries
MTN MobileMoney is a SIM-based version of Fundamos Mobile Wallet Solution V3.1, that is specifically designed to meet the needs of MTNs subscriber base. Using HSM (Hardware Security Module [not Hierarchical Storage Management as we originally wrote]), technologies that offer ATM level security, and a PIN system that prevents sensitive information from residing on the handset, users are entirely safeguarded against theft and fraud, Fundamo says.
The solution is also fully compliant with all banking and FICA regulations, enabling banks to log in to the system and manage the banking elements of the service, while MTN focuses on customer acquisition and retention.
The solution does not require users to setup a bank account, instead offering a variety of services, from money transfer, mobile payments and balance checking, to mobile purchases, and the ability to buy airtime in real-time. Users have the option to receive a branded MTN MobileMoney debit card that can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Fundamo says that MTN MobileMoney is anticipated to be a key differentiator for MTN, supporting customer acquisition and retention, while strongly reinforcing the MTN brand in outlets throughout the country that accept MTN MobileMoney payments. Initial trials of the service in several markets show a satisfactory level of acceptance from both end users and merchants.
We selected Fundamo for two key reasons; because they could support the concurrent multi-country roll-out and aggressive time to market that we required for our project, and because their solution is mature, scalable and well tested in developing markets, as well as being designed from the ground up to be fully compliant with all banking regulations, says Dare Okoudjou, Head of Mobilemoney International Development for MTN Group. With Fundamos future-proof solution, we can take full advantage of the mobile payment market.