Concord Times (Freetown)
Sahr Morris Jnr.
25 February 2009
Freetown — The leading mobile telecommunications provider, Zain Tuesday announced plans to bring mobile banking to over 100 million people in Africa with the launch of its new service, Zap.
Providing the most comprehensive and accessible package of mobile banking features currently available on the African continent, Zap will be initially available in Kenya and Tanzania prior to the launch in Uganda.
Zap represents the most comprehensive mobile banking service ever launched and will provide millions of people with access to banking for the very first time.
Zain is partnering with leading international and regional banks, including Citigroup and Standard Chartered to launch Zap, which will allow Zain customers in the three countries - with others to follow - to use their mobile phone to: pay bills and pay for goods and services, receive money and send money to friends and family, send and receive money to the bank accounts, withdraw cash, top up their own airtime account or top up someone else's, send airtime to Zain customers in Africa, and manage their bank accounts.
Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Zain group's chief executive officer said: "The launch of Zap represents the latest chapter in our work to push the boundaries of mobile communications. For any market in the world, the combination of services we are providing would be exciting; but when set in an African context, the implications are especially profound."
He further added, "With a potential customer base of over 100 million people in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, many of whom have never had access to formal financial services, we believe Zap will reshape the future of banking in Africa."
Zain customers can sign-up for free for the new Zap banking and payment services by completing an application form and handing it over to registered Zain agents in tens of thousands of villages, towns and cities across East Africa. Zain will then provide the customer with a mobile wallet, which will allow them to use their mobile phone in much the same way as a bank account debit card and manage their money through their handset. The service is supported on all handsets, including ultra low cost handsets (ULCH) which Zain is successfully rolling out across the continent.
Chris Gabriel, CEO Zain Africa said: "Research has shown that m-banking and m-payments can help lower the transaction costs of money transfer, increase the flow of money by making it easier to send smaller amounts and introduce those without bank accounts to a means of secure financial management. By enabling people to use their mobile phones as mobile wallets, we hope to deliver lasting benefits not just for our customers, but also for the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda."
Zain plans to roll-out the enhanced Zap service to the rest of its African and Middle East network following the East Africa launch in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. During a three month trial phase the service was used by several international companies, including Coca Cola who used it to pay their dealers in Tanzania.
Zain was the first mobile company to introduce phone-to-phone airtime credit transfer service in 2005 (Me2U). Currently over US$10 million worth of airtime transfers take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda each month.
It is currently the fourth largest mobile network in the world in terms of geographic presence, with a footprint in 22 countries spread across the Middle East and Africa and providing mobile voice and data services to over 60 million active customers.
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