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SimbaPay's head of operations, Victor Karanja, stated the service will provide a seamless platform for Prime Bank's customer base to send money abroad.

EthSwitch has an objective to work as international gateway for all banks. When the project is fully completed, over 50 e-Payment products and services will be supported in EthSwitch covering card delivery channels like ATM, POS, mobile, internet, and voice. EthioPay is the brand given to the National e-Payment Switch of Ethiopia.

Amongst the future activities is to include mobile as part of the financial inclusion policy. Another active area is the recent launch of the domestic card called EthioPay. Across a national population of 100 million, there are 2.5 million card holders and 40 million mobile users. Sufficient opportunity for Bekele and his team in the time to come.

Since May this year the number of inter-bank transactions has been growing. This is expected to increase as the Ethiopian population becomes aware of the interoperability and ease of use of using cards in any bank’s ATM machine. Along the way there have been some transactions declines due to connectivity failures and those limitations are being addressed

“Businesses, as well as Kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad, send over US$18 billion to other African countries, Asia and Europe annually with several billion Kenya Shillings going through the Simbapay network. Therefore, this service will offer Prime Bank’s customers a world-class fully digital international money transfer service,” added Karanja.

Prime Bank’s Director for Business Development, Vijay Kantaria, said the tier 2 lender has embarked on investment in technology through partnering with various FinTechs to accelerate its digital integration plan.

“Through our digital platforms, we aim to make available a one stop solution to our customers in terms of funds transfer and with the inclusion of SimbaPay, our customers will now send money to friends and family across the world at the comfort of their mobile phones,” added Mr. Kantaria.

Through SimbaPay, Prime Bank customers will now be able to instantly and securely send money directly to bank accounts or mobile wallets across 15 countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia including India, United Kingdom, China (WeChat Pay), Germany, Uganda among others. Commenting on the partnership, SimbaPay’s Head of Operations Victor Karanja noted that the service will provide a seamless platform for Prime Bank’s customer base to send money abroad at the click of a button.

For years, Egyptian companies have been paying salaries in cash, and people have been saving money outside banks.  Only 10 percent of Egyptians have bank accounts, according to Payfort’s State of Payments in the Arab World 2014 report. Over the previous decade, the electronic payment market has been penetrated by two firms: state-owned e-Finance, which handles electronic payments from and to the government through banking channels, and private-sector Fawry, which was launched in 2008 to provide payment solutions through ATM machines, mobile wallets, and retail points. Chief technology officer of Fawry, Mostafa Elnahhas, told Wamda that his company succeeded in spreading 65,000 collection points in 300 cities for banked customers in Egypt. However, the electronic payment is still small-sized due to the large amount of unbanked customers and the low credit card penetration.

Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it. PayMe app was forced by Egypt’s fiscal regulator to stop operating for four months to abide by regulations. (Photo via PayMe) However, shortly after its launch, the Central Bank of Egypt, the state regulator, suspended Payme’s operations as a payment firm as it wasn’t cooperating with a bank. The firm had to abide by this regulation until it followed the requirements and collaborated with state-owned bank the National Bank of Egypt, then resumed its business in January 2017.  

Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it.

BelCash Technology Solution PLC has partnered with two banks to launch HelloCash mobile money services in Ethiopia. Launched in partnership with Lion International Bank and Somali Micro Finance, the service will provide financial services to all Ethiopians

BelCash Technology Solution PLC has partnered with two banks to launch HelloCash mobile money services in Ethiopia. Launched in partnership with Lion International Bank and Somali Micro Finance, the service will provide financial services to all Ethiopians. It will enable existing and potential customers of Lion International Bank and Somali Micro Finance to carry out transactions in four key areas of financial transactions: Deposit, Withdraw, Transfer and make payments.

Key standouts of HelloCash include its interoperability and shared infrastructure features. The system is designed for multiple banks and MFIs to be interconnected and offer mobile money services to their respective customers. This allows partnering financial institutions to share each other’s agent and branch networks to serve each other’s customers.

Through the digital platforms, Prime Bank aims to make available a one stop solution to its customers in terms of funds transfer. With the inclusion of SimbaPay, the customers will be able to send money to friends and family across the world using their mobile phones.

To access the service, customers will need to login to the bank’s mobile banking app – PrimeMobi, then click on International Money Transfer icon on the homescreen. After confirming the amount to be sent, the sender’s bank account will be debited, and money credited to the beneficiary instantly.

Hello Paisa is brought to you by the same people behind Hello Mobile – a revolutionary mobile network service provider trusted by thousands of migrants across South Africa.Our track record guarantees the safety and efficiency of every cash transaction, because we’re passionate about your peace of mind.The service we offer is 100% legal and completely secure; we’re one of just a few international companies that’s been issued with an SA Reserve Bank license to do what we do.

When you’re living in a different country for work,the last thing you need to deal with is a complicated bank account.Introducing HelloPaisa: the fastest, easiest way to send cash to your loved ones.All you need is your phone!

Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with Chinese smartphone maker Huawei [HWT.UL] to enable the international transfer of money across Huawei’s mobile services in Africa, the companies said on Tuesday.

“International remittance is a very important mobile money service in Africa, and our partnership with WorldRemit will bring international remittances directly to Huawei’s customers across the continent,” David Chen, Vice-President of Huawei Southern Africa, said in a statement.

M-PESA's International Money Transfer (IMT) service allows anyone wishing to send money to Kenya to visit one of several Safaricom IMT partners (such as Post Finance, World Remit, and Western Union) and send money to an M-PESA mobile phone in Kenya. Money transfers are received almost instantly, and at no expense to the recipient.

M-PESA is the result of a partnership between Vodafone and Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile network operator. M-PESA's International Money Transfer (IMT) service allows anyone wishing to send money to Kenya to visit one of several Safaricom IMT partners (such as Post Finance, World Remit, and Western Union) and send money to an M-PESA mobile phone in Kenya.

Scott Eddington, WorldRemit’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, said: "We are proud of our history of helping customers send money back home to friends and family in the Pacific Islands, and this new partnership with Digicel will strengthen our offering and give even more choice to consumers. It couldn’t come at a better time – travel restrictions continue to impact on tourism and the movement of seasonal workers, and COVID-19 has created a step-change shift in consumer behaviour towards digital options such as mobile wallets."

#SolidariTECH The CGEM continues to invest in startup development. In collaboration with the Moroccan Start-up Ecosystem Catalysts (MSEC), it has launched a social initiative called #SolidariTECH. It orientates the startups to develop agile solutions to the COVID19 and quarantine issues for the benefit of civil society, companies and the Government. They provide new solutions in the fields of health, education and even DabaDoc medical consultation online. Now this initiative is welcoming a new stakeholder, the International Finance Corporation. It also aims to deploy the solutions proposed by these startups in neighboring countries such as Algeria and Tunisia and identify new synergies between #SolidariTECH and similar initiatives carried out in the Maghreb region.

The CGEM continues to invest in startup development. In collaboration with the Moroccan Start-up Ecosystem Catalysts (MSEC), it has launched a social initiative called #SolidariTECH.

For instance, the platform “DabaDoc “offers citizens the option to have a medical consultation online. Now this initiative0.959

Ethiopay is a four-party scheme, in which the issuer and acquirer are different entities, and is open for all payment institutions to join and issue their own cards. There are no limitations as to who may join the scheme, as long as the requirements of the scheme are met.Ethiopay Card schemes enables a simplified and guaranteed exchange of money between merchants, customers and their banks, by operating national & international networks and setting uniform standards.More specifically, Ethiopay defines rules for the routing of payment authorizations and settlement requests in point-of-sale and e-commerce transactions between merchant acquirers and card issuers, as well as ATM withdrawals or purchases with cashback transactions.

Ethswitch is the owner of Ethiopay-Ethiopia’s domestic Card Scheme. Ethiopay is developed for all banks in Ethiopia to issue and acquire payment cards.

Ethiopay is a four-party scheme, in which the issuer and acquirer are different entities, and is open for all payment institutions to join and issue their own cards. There are no limitations as to who may join the scheme, as long as the requirements of the scheme are met.Ethiopay Card schemes enables a simplified and guaranteed exchange of money between merchants, customers and their banks, by operating national & international networks and setting uniform standards.More specifically, Ethiopay defines rules for the routing of payment authorizations and settlement requests in point-of-sale and e-commerce transactions between merchant acquirers and card issuers, as well as ATM withdrawals or purchases with cashback transactions.

M-Pesa is Africa's most successful mobile money service and the region’s largest fintech platform. M-Pesa is the preferred way to make payments across the continent both for the banked and unbanked due to its safety and unmatched convenience.

It also provides financial services to millions of people who have mobile phones, but do not have bank accounts, or only have limited access to banking services. Now, M-Pesa provides over 42 million people with a safe, secure and affordable way to send and receive money, top-up airtime, make bill payments, receive salaries, get short-term loans and much more.

In early 2020, Vodacom & Safaricom completed the acquisition of the M-Pesa brand from Vodafone Group through a newly created joint venture. The joint venture will accelerate the growth of M-Pesa through Africa by giving both Vodacom and Safaricom full control of the M-Pesa brand, product development and support services as well as the opportunity to expand M-Pesa into new African markets

SimbaPay – a London based digital money transfer provider – today announced the launch of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered chatbot service which now makes International Money Transfer (remittance) possible with only an SMS. The SimbaPay chatbot will also enable 24/7 instant customer service for its customers across Africa and Europe.“We’re thrilled at the prospect of the chatbot service resolving most customer enquiries instantly at any time of day or night” said Daniel Howard, CTO for SimbaPay. “Another major objective we achieved with the chatbot service is that it also works without internet. This means customers with a mobile phone, even a basic phone without internet access, can access the SimbaPay chatbot using SMS”.

BelCash is a company known to have introduced an advanced use of technology to provide customized solutions in convenient payments to vital government services in 2010. It has since refurbished what was once a bureaucratic paper system which inconvenienced millions of people who depend on it.

With Ethiopia moving to a strategy which helps embrace the wisdom of solar energy within the country and play catch-up to successes achieved in neighboring nations such as Kenya and Rwanda; HelloSolar in partnership with BelCash – the mobile banking platform system – is set to introduce a pay-as-you-go system for the nation’s off-grid population with affordable solar home system.

This is a jump-the-queue strategy for the company in offering such a system and becoming a pioneer in a country whose majority of population still lack basic energy. In addition, the company has launched an International Remittance payment system, to allow members of the Diaspora to pay from anywhere in the world with a credit card and convenience local clients.

A uniquely integrated international fintech ecosystem that allows customers to make online money transfers using mobile money, bank account transfers, and cash pick-up services. We built Africa’s first truly global super app to help drive our ‘financial inclusion for all’ vision. A multi-service technology platform that brings together digital payment solutions, on-demand services, instant messaging, and digital media services in a single, easy-to-use mobile application. In some of our key markets across Africa, we have been able to drive financial inclusion from under 10% to 70-80% through solutions that have helped to create thousands of jobs and business opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) subscribers in Cameroon can now receive international money transfers through MoneyGram directly into their mobile wallets. This is thanks to a recent partnership between MoneyGram and MFS Africa, which extends the inbound international money transfer service to MTN MoMo payment accounts on new channels.