Fortumo expands into Algeria, Ghana and Tanzania

The mobile payments company Fortumo announced today that it has expanding its carrier billing services to 3 new African markets. More than 79 million mobile phone owners in Algeria, Ghana and Tanzania can now make payments for digital services.

“Africa’s digital ecosystem is quickly growing and we are seeing strong interest from international merchants who want to expand their activities there. While each day a large amount of new smartphone owners are coming online, collecting payments from these users has so far been a challenge. Our expansion in Africa gives locals better access to digital mobile services such as games, music, and video while helping merchants generate additional revenue from the region,” said Gerri Kodres, Chief Business Officer at Fortumo.

Fortumo services app stores including Google Play, digital media providers including Spotify, Sony, HOOQ, Gaana and gaming companies like EA Mobile, Gameloft and Kinguin with carrier billing, local market insights and facilitates relationships with mobile operators.

All three markets where Fortumo has launched have extremely low credit card penetration: Algeria at 6%, Ghana at 0.9% and Tanzania at 0.7%. This means while people can access online content, most of them are unable to make payments for paid features of these services.

Carrier billing solves this problem by allowing any mobile owner to make payments conveniently through their carrier and either deduct payments from their airtime balance or charge them to their monthly phone bill. Additional information on Africa’s digital ecosystem can be found from Fortumo’s recent market report.

In the Middle Eastern and African region, carrier billing through Fortumo is now available to more than 600 million people in 24 countries. Globally, over 3.5 billion people in 97 countries can make payments using their mobile phone with merchants who have integrated Fortumo.

Source: itnewsafrica

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Why Is East Africa A Global Leader In Mobile Remittances?

East Africa has established itself as a global leader in mobile remittances, and TerraPay is the latest mobile payments platform to enter the crowded space with its launch in Tanzania.

The global company has obtained regulatory approval to launch international money transfer services to mobile wallets in Tanzania.

There are good reasons why companies are flocking to the region. There are huge opportunities in Africa’s mobile remittance segment due to a large number of people living and working abroad who send money home for investment and family support.

“There is also the opportunity created by intra-Africa businesses that require money transfer from one African country to another,” says Danson Njue, an analyst at Ovum. “The continent has a relatively high mobile penetration rate and a developed mobile money service platform which supports the growth of the mobile remittance sector.”

Experts say Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are challenging Kenyan operators for dominance of the sector. More and more players are entering the mobile remittances space, with Tigo launching an international remittance service and South African company Mama Money expanding to Tanzania earlier this year, IT Web Africa reported:

There is also interoperability between customers of MTN Mobile Money and Vodacom’s M-Pesa, with the arrival of TerraPay, which is part of the Mahindra Comviva group and provides interoperability engines – a further development.

The regulatory approval means Tanzania is now part of the TerraPay global network, which will allow partners from across the world to send money to mobile wallets in the country. Tanzanian diaspora in the U.K., France, Italy, Canada, U.S., South Africa and elsewhere can send remittances directly to Vodacom M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money and Zantel Ezy Pesa Mobile Money accounts by visiting a participating TerraPay store.

In 2015, the World Bank reported remittances to Africa reached US$35 billion, excluding the amount transferred through informal channels. Mobile methods of sending money are vital due to the high cost of sending remittances in Africa via formal channels — between 8 percent and 20 percent of each transaction.

Since Kenya’s launch of M-Pesa a decade ago, East Africa has set itself up as a leader in mobile money. Aside from mobile money operators, global firms like WorldRemit and TerraPay see the region as a major base.

WorldRemit tracks the development of the sector back to the launch of M-Pesa. Recent figures released by the money transfer company show that the Kenyan diaspora is the biggest sender of digital remittances to mobile accounts.

Transfers to mobile money accounts make up 93 percent of WorldRemit’s transactions to Kenya, proving that Kenyans continue to be early adopters of innovative technology, even when abroad.

In January 2017 alone, WorldRemit customers transferred more than US$140 million to Kenya, while Kenyan internal remittances reached a record US$161 million in November 2016, making remittances one of the nation’s top earners.

But it is not just Kenya. East African countries including Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are also leaders in this space and have competitive markets.

Lehlohonolo Mokenela, an industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, says East Africa and South Asia are reporting high growth in the volume of mobile money-based remittances.

“The affinity for mobile wallets in East African markets such as Kenya and Tanzania is expected to enable the growth of international remittances in the region, Mokenela said. “Service providers such as TerraPay are already looking to enable the development of this market in different parts of the continent.”

Making different mobile transfer services interoperable in different countries is a vital next step for the development of the market. Again, East Africa is leading in this, with Tanzania in particular making major steps forward, but there is more to be done.

“Interoperability is expected to overcome challenges to scale and facilitate micro-transfers across borders, a common theme for Africa’s low-income population,” Mokenela said. “The challenge for the market however, lies in the navigating the regulatory hurdles from one country to the next.”

Njue said there is evidence of increased adoption of mobile money interoperability by service providers to support cross-border and cross-network transfers and grow the sector.

“The need for interoperability is to support mobile remittances and also grow service usage among users. In addition to increasing mobile money usage, interoperability has the potential to unlock the intra-Africa mobile remittance sector which has not had much focus in the past and which holds the key to promoting cross-border trade,” he said.

He said he expected to see some consolidation in the market given how many different companies have entered the space.

“In my opinion, market consolidations may be inevitable in some markets where we have so many operators. However, partnerships will feature most as service providers seek to tap into the opportunities in the sector,” said Njue

Source:afkinsider

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Impact of mobile money interoperability in Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the most developed mobile money markets in the world, representing almost a third of all of East Africa’s active mobile money accounts in 2015. [1] It is also one of the most progressive, with ambitious initiatives regularly leading to new product innovation. Today, we are releasing a publication looking at the impact of one form of innovation coming out of Tanzania: the impact of account-to-account mobile money interoperability.

With Tigo, Airtel and Zantel having connected their services in 2014 and Vodacom integrating in 2016, account-to-account interoperability is still in early days in Tanzania. As such, this publication focuses on preliminary quantitative metrics alongside perspectives and reflections written by the service providers. The basic quantitative data offers a glimpse of initial customer behaviours and allows us to benchmark growth against a comparative use case, the off-net voucher. The latter half of the publication focuses entirely on the perspectives of the providers. These perspectives are critical because the experience of these players will inform both how Tanzania develops and how other practitioners evaluate the opportunity of interoperability in their own markets.

Between the data and the providers, Tanzania has provided more evidence to help all industry stakeholders develop more realistic expectations of and a better understanding for account-to-account interoperability.  For example:

• Basic market prerequisites in Tanzania provided the right dynamic for early growth. Growth in Tanzania is promising, particularly given providers have taken a “wait and see” approach in the early days. For Airtel and Tigo, cross-net transactions now exceed off-net vouchers, and both cite double-digit monthly percentage growth. To capture this early organic growth, providers benefitted from (1) an enabling regulatory environment that encourages innovation, (2) strong operational foundations across all providers and (3) a commitment to the user experience, including honouring a consistent price for all P2P transfers – whether on-net or cross-net. Markets lacking these basic prerequisites may risk a harder road before reaping the benefits that interoperability can enable.

• Interoperability between providers can also be a catalyst for further investment in industry collaboration. There is a healthy diversity of perspectives and expectations from providers around the implementation and impact of domestic interoperability. However, what is clear is that the launch of this singular form of interoperability is part of, and in some cases reinforced by, an on-going strategy to capture the benefits of broader industry collaboration. Millicom, Vodacom and Airtel all explicitly expressed an interest to build on their experience and potentially extend interoperability to new use cases, such as merchant payments.

• The impact of interoperability is best measured over the long-term. Mobile money interoperability has further to go in Tanzania before it is close to the transaction volume processed through bank integrations or on-net P2P transfers. To accelerate that growth, the industry continues to explore how improvements to the technological and financial infrastructure could make mobile money interoperability more efficient. New investment in customer campaigns are also underway, and these investments will help evaluate the long-term growth ceiling and the extent of mass-market need for the functionality.
• Source: gsma

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Tanzania in mobile money ‘first’ for Africa

Vodacom joined Tigo, Airtel and Zantel in a pioneering interoperability scheme for mobile money in Tanzania.

In 2014, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel agreed to enable their customers to send and receive money across their networks. After announcing it would join last year, Vodacom has now implemented the scheme.

Tanzania becomes Africa’s first country with full interoperability for P2P money transfers, according to a statement issued by three of the operators.

Interoperability means more traffic and hence revenue, at least that’s the argument of Tigo, Airtel and Zantel, which have seen off-network transactions grow 3.5 times since 2014.

Tanzania, like neighbouring Kenya, is a case study for mobile money with high usage levels. There are more than 16 million mobile financial users in Tanzania.

Source:mobileworldlive

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Tanzania's Mobile Money Revolution-Infographic

Kenya is often lauded as a global pioneer when it comes to mobile money, but Tanzania is also making its mark. With growing competition and mobile money providers starting to make their systems interoperable, Tanzania is setting an example for others.

Source:http://www.cgap.org/

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Equity Bank has finally launched the thin SIM that provides a mobile payment, mobile banking and telecom services to its customers

Equity Bank Group has finally launched its thin SIM card to offer voice, SMS, data and mobile-to-bank money transfer services

Transfer of money within Equity Bank will be free and will only attract a fee while transferring from Equity Bank account to other banks.

Equity Group CEO James Mwangi says voice communications will Sh4 across all networks and one shilling for SMS, while mobile money transfer services will be free.

“The free money transfer services is like Internet banking services. What we are saying is why should the low income people be paying while the rich don’t pay so that when you transfer money from your account to your mothers account there will be no charge,” Mwangi said during the launch on Monday.

“With Equitel you will be able to send money to any telecom, bank account or mobile phone in the country,” Mwangi added.

Equitel is operating under Equity bank’s subsidiary Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) with infrastructure support provided by Airtel.

A new thin SIM card will go for Sh600 for new customers with no accounts at Equity Bank and who may be required to open accounts with the bank to enjoy the banking services. However the other normal cards will be given for free.

The thin SIM will start with the prefix of 0764 after the bank hit one million users under the 0763 prefix during the pilot project which was on the normal SIM cards.

READ: Government backs thin SIM technology

In partnership with switches in the market which include Kenswitch, Paynet and Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) customers can instantly send up to Sh1 million to all banks for Sh200 all days of the week.

“With the use of the switches that exist in the country, you can now transfer money from one bank to another even on a Sunday. Transfers of money have always been restricted to during the morning hours when clearing house is open. But now we have bypassed clearing because of this interconnection,” Mwangi explained.

The launch of the thin SIM comes after a long struggle which went up to the courts after complaints that use of the cards in the market was not safe.

Safaricom had raise concerns that the use of the thin SIM by placing it on top of customers’ existing SIM cards would interfere with privacy.

However Equity Bank won the battle after being cleared by the High Court in May this year.

Source:capitalfm

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Tanzania Telecoms target universal coverage

MAJOR telecoms have been approved to provide their services to 112 wards being part of a government drive to provide universal telecommunication.

Vodacom, Airtel and Tigo and TTCL will provide telecommunications services to 102 wards which are un-served or underserved for a total subsidy of 7.6 million US dollars (14.2bn/-) and another 10 wards located in border areas and special zones for 1.5 million US dollars (2.7bn/-).

The subsidies have been provided to attract the operators to move to the areas which currently do not attract private investment in telecommunication service.

Representatives of the telecommunication companies signed the agreement with the Chief Executive Officer of the Universal Communications Service Access Fund, Mr Peter Ulanga, in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.

The agreement signed on Tuesday followed a similar one signed in 2014 where the mobile telephone companies won tender to provide telecommunication services to 86 wards and another one in 2013 where 52 wards were involved.

“This is a good progress towards our goal of universal telecommunication service in the country. We hope next time more wards, perhaps 300 will be covered,” said the Minister for Communication, Science & Technology, Prof. Makame Mbarawa.

The communication operators had been invited to bid for tenders to provide communication services to 158 wards in a project involving 26.28bn/- (14.21 million US dollars).

A total of 158 wards (lots) were floated in a set of currently un-served or under-served wards within the country and 102 lots were bid successfully.

Tigo will cover 42 wards where it will receive 3.145bn/- as subsidies to move to the areas. Vodacom will go to 36 wards and will receive 6.33bn/- as subsidies.

TTCL won 19 wards and will receive 4.15bn/- as subsidies while Airtel has been approved to cover five wards and will get 566m/- as subsidies.

The mobile operators also will provide telecommunication services to 10 wards in border and special zone areas where Vodacom has two wards and will be entitled for 804.7m/- as subsidies, Tigo will go to 5 wards and will receive 985m/- as subsidies and Airtel will provide telecommunication service to three wards and will get 984.9m/- as subsidies.

Meanwhile, the Universal Communications Service Access Fund signed agreement with the Avant Communications to connect 250 public schools with internet and also establishing 25 ICT academic centres in various areas in the country.

source:dailynews

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Airtel hands over cars to seven more winners

ILALA Municipal Mayor, Mr Jerry Silaa, handed over seven Toyota IST cars to seven latest Airtel Yatosha Zaidi promotion winners.

Mr Silaa said, “I am very pleased to see Tanzanians from all walks of life become winners in this promotion. It shows the company’s commitment to improve its customers’ living conditions.”

The colourful event in Dar es Salaam, witnessed winners, who were announced last Friday, drive home their cars simply for joining Airtel Yatosha service.

The winners were Dar es Salaam based food vendor Ms Sakina Mshamu Libwana, Katavi Region herbalist Mr Saidi Mashiko, Tabata resident bus conductor Mr Justin William, Mr Edson Mwansasu (farmer, Kyela).

Others were Ms Hamim Yoyo (works at saloon plaiting hair, Korogwe, Tanga) and Ms Ester Mashauri, a nurse at Bugando Hospital, Mwanza as well as Mr Ibrahim Sasya Kimolo, a farmer from Arusha.

“It is also the pleasure to me that some of the winners come from Ilala Municipality. But, I do congratulate all winners and urge them to keep on using Airtel services,” he said.

Airtel Tanzania Managing Director Mr Sunil Colaso said “The diversity of these prizes is a clear sign of the company’s spread in Tanzania. Just for the first ten cars out, we have got winners from every corner of the country.”

Source:Dailynews

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Three win cars in latest Airtel promo

FIFTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD peasant from Kimanzichana Village, Mkuranga District in Coast Region, Mr Ramadhani Dilunga, emerged one of the three first winners of cars in a recently launched promotion by Airtel, during a draw held in Dar es Salaam at the weekend.

Airtel Tanzania last week launched the promotion dubbed “Airtel Yatosha Zaidi” in which the firm’s lucky subsribers could win a car everyday for the next 60 days.

Airtel Yatosha Zaidi envoy, Ms Elizabeth Michael ‘Lulu’, dialled the winners to inform them the news under supervision of Tanzania Gaming Board inspector, Mr Bakari Maggid, during the draw.

Dilunga screamed: “Thank you...God is great. I did not expect this at all,” shortly after Ms Lulu gave him the good news as the winner of Toyota IST.

Airtel Public Relations Manager, Mr Jackson Mmbando, named other winners as Ms Mwajabu Churian (27), an entrepreneur and Mr Namtapika Kilumba (60), a retired teacher.

“We still have 57 IST Toyota in ‘the showroom’ that are up for grabs within 60 days,” he added. “They will own cars just for dialling *149*99#,” he explained.

Source:Dailynews

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Airtel supports e-Learning programme

TEACHERS and students at Ibiri and Ilongalulu secondary schools have expressed their delight for incorporating ICT in their studies as a result of partnership between Airtel and the Millennium Village Project.

Ibiri and Ilolangulu secondary school in Tabora Region and are being supported by Connect to Learn Programme. Airtel provides (3G) mobile communication coverage for the programme and supports monthly data bundles for both schools.

The head master of Lolangulu Secondary School Mr Cleophas Bugombo said yesterday that: “We are truly grateful for this initiative as it enables us to access additional teaching materials.

“We also have the opportunity to connect our student with other students from across the globe via platforms like Skype where they learn and share experiences.

“This is very valuable programme in broadening their minds that there is more to the world than what they see on daily basis.”

Millennium Village Project Director Dr Gerson Nyadzi said; “By investing in 3G internet connectivity and providing monthly data bundles, Airtel has facilitated Connect to Learn and its technology partners to bring global connections to thousands of students from under-resourced schools in rural areas who would otherwise have scarcely a chance to explore the world beyond their hometowns and villages.”

Source:Dailynews

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Airtel launches new internet campaign

AIRTEL Tanzania on Thursday announced a service known as the SWITCH ON that targets internet users, allowing them have hassle free non-stop internet at affordable costs.

Airtel Marketing Director, Levi Nyakundi, said: “Today (yesterday), the internet is an essential part of our everyday life. As a user, one wants constant and affordable supply of internet so as to sufficiently communicate to loved ones, work efficiently and get updated with local and international news.

“Each user is faced with the challenge of choosing the right MB-GB package for their device and lifestyle needs. It is with this in mind that Airtel ventured to provide a unique solution to her esteemed customers Tanzania.”

With Airtel ‘SWICTH ON,’ users in Tanzania will now be able to enjoy reasonably priced Internet bundles on their devices. The service presents a rich new culture in Tanzania as it is convenient, affordable and allows non-stop data expe
Source:Dailynews

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TANZANIA’S TIGO, AIRTEL & ZANTEL LAUNCH AFRICA’S FIRST MOBILE MONEY INTEROPERABILITY

Three of Tanzania's four mobile networks, Tigo, Airtel and Zantel have announced Africa's first agreement to allow their customers in the country to send money to each other whether using Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money or EzyPesa on their mobile handsets.

The service is expected to begin this month.

This is the first agreement in Africa to adopt interoperable mobile money services, whereby one network allows another network's customers to send money to its own clients.

With this agreement, the potential number of customers able to send money by mobile to each other in Tanzania, regardless of network, will increase to over sixteen million.

Airtel, Zantel and Tigo welcomed today the recent statement by Vodafone supporting the principle of such interoperability and expect to conclude a similar agreement with Vodacom in Tanzania.

Tigo has over 6.2 million customers in Tanzania overall and 3.4m users of its Tigo Pesa mobile money service.

In February 2014, Millicom launched the world's first cross-border mobile money service with currency conversion between Tanzania and Rwanda.

source:cellularnews

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Service providers advised to go digital in financing the poor

Digital payments can reduce transaction costs by up to 90 per cent, through greater efficiency, sustainability and accessibility to the poor, a new report says.

A report released by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and McKinsey & Company on channels through which financial service providers can effectively target low income earners added digital payments also lower costs for financial providers.

 Tamara Cook, a programme officer of financial services for the poor at the Gates Foundation, said the system will allow them a more secure way to send and receive money as well as spend and transfer it.

“We wanted to learn more about the costs associated with current payment systems and find ways to provide poor people in developing countries with affordable, efficient and secure ways to send and receive money,” said Cook .

Making financial services available through phones is a way to extend access to people in remote areas, where it is unlikely residents have access to a bank.

 “More than two-thirds of people in developing countries don’t have access to a bank account of any kind,” Cook said.

 “By moving the poor away from cash, it allows them a more affordable and secure way to spend and transfer money. And because digital transactions can reduce costs to financial providers by up to 90 per cent, it becomes an attractive business proposition.”

 Financial institutions have also been advised on the need to step up and change the way they do business.

“There’s a huge market out there waiting for them – more than 2.5 billion people. Until now, many banks had viewed these markets as requiring too much infrastructure investment,” said Cook

She added that if steps are taken to increase efficiency in payment methods and reduce costs in the current system, even the poorest markets can be worthwhile investments.

 The report was released during the recently concluded AITEC Banking and Mobile Money COMESA conference in Nairobi.

source:humanipo

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Airtel launches refurbished Arusha shop

AIRTEL Tanzania launched its refurbished modern shop in Arusha, at a colourful ceremony and pledge to improve delivery of its services.

Airtel Customer Care Director, Ms Adrianna Lyamba, said “Today (yesterday) we are launching our second refurbished shop, after the launch of Airtel Xpress Shop at Mlimani City in Dar es Salaam last month.

“We believe in providing a plus one service to our customers, today’s unveiling is a continuation of bringing in sophistication that will give our customer security and superior service at all times’.

Arusha Region Commissioner Magesa Mulongo said: “I would like to applaud Airtel for expanding its boundaries through customer service delivery and infusion of innovative thinking.

“We believe these innovations will not only increase employment opportunities but also provide our Arusha people with world class products and services, for this we thank Airtel!”

Source:Dailynews

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Precision Air, Airtel partner on ticketing

AIRTEL Tanzania has partnered with Precision Air to enable customers purchase tickets using Airtel Money service. This partnership will give Precision Air customers flexibility and an easy way of planning for their journey.

                                                     

This is through convenient purchase of their flight tickets using Airtel Money service from their comfort. “This partnership will allow our customers experience value in paying for their local, regional and international flights for Precision Air.

“Airtel Money will enable Tanzanians to pay for their tickets fast without waiting in long queues. This service is fast, secure and convenient,” said Ms Jane Matinde, Airtel Public Relations Officer Ms Matinde added that:

“We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to offer innovative products and services while ensuring our customer best service through Airtel Money.“

The partnership has come at a time when Precision Air is in the quest to improve the overall customer experience.

Our customers can now dial the Call Centre or visit our website, do the booking and choose the option of payment through Airtel Money.”

source:Dailynews

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Airtel Tanzania launches LUKU bonus offer,Airtel Money menu that will provide service options that includes LUKU purchase.

AIRTEL Tanzania has launched a new offer that allows customers to receive extra bonus of LUKU units for every purchase through Airtel Money service.

The launch of this offer is part of the commitment that Airtel has to ensure customers get innovative products and services.

     

Speaking on the offer Asupya Nalingigwa, Airtel Tanzania M-Commerce Operations Manager said, “This offer is aimed at encouraging customers to use Airtel Money to purchase Luku simply and conveniently.

“Our customers will receive a bonus for their LUKU transaction through Airtel Money for every purchase. This will be irrespective of how many times a customer purchases LUKU on a single day.

I challenge those not using this service to go ahead and try it to experience a new service that will add value to their life.” She said all Airtel Customers were eligible for the offer and there were no extra charges.

To use the Airtel Money service all a customer has to do is to simply dial *150*60# (at no cost) and directly get access to the Airtel Money menu that will provide service options that includes LUKU purchase.

source:Dailynews

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Recharge Smile Tanzania Account with M-pesa,Tigo pesa and Ezy pesa

                                                            M-PESA ACCOUNT

                                                           

                                                                TIGO PESA ACCOUNT

                                                               
                                                             EZYPESA ACCOUNT

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Postal Bank , Airtel Tanzania partner for mobile banking services

Airtel Tanzania has partnered with Tanzania Postal Bank (TPB) to allow clients to send and withdraw money from their bank accounts at no cost as well as enjoy other mobile financial services offered by the mobile provider.

The new partnership will allow Airtel Money customers to directly transfer funds from their accounts to their mobile phone or to their friends, relatives and business partners’ accounts.

Sunil Colaso, managing director Airtel Tanzania, said: “Airtel Money targets Tanzania consumers’ daily financial needs, strengthening our partnership with TPB will allow our customers who bank with TPB across the country enjoy easy banking services with their Airtel lines.”

He said with over 20,000 Airtel Money agents present in both urban and rural areas in the country, clients will have easy access to money withdrawal and deposit centres.

TPB’s acting chief executive Jema Msuya said: “Now clients will be able to receive information on balance inquiries on their accounts, mini statements and bank transfer records only by a few clicks from the comfort of their homes or offices anytime of the day.”

He said the partnership with Airtel would reinforce the bank’s commitment to extend financial inclusion to other stakeholders.

John Ndunguru, Airtel Money operations manager in Tanzania, said customers will not have to worry about safety or security or any delay in the process.

“Airtel Money is protected through a state of the art security application and is therefore not easily accessible by anyone other than the user,” Ndunguru said.

Source:humanipo

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