Mahindra Comviva powers the world’s first domestic interoperable mobile financial services in Tanzania
New Delhi, India, November 13, 2014: Mahindra Comviva, the global player in providing mobility solutions, announced that it has enabled the world’s first domestic interoperable mobile financial service between Airtel Money and Tigo Pesa in Tanzania. The service allows customers to send and receive money directly between the mobile money accounts of these two service providers. The new service made the use of mobile money more convenient for millions of users in Tanzania by expanding the network of people they can transact with. This first-of-its-kind service will enhance financial inclusion in Tanzania and complement the national financial inclusion framework, which aims to make formal financial services available to 50% of adult Tanzanians by 2015.
Powered by Mahindra Comviva’s award winning mobiquity Money, the interoperable mobile financial service offers users access to secure, fast and reliable money transfer to friends and family members who use another operator’s mobile money service. The service simplifies off-net money transfers and enables recipients to transact through the convenience of their own mobile phone without cashing out.
Tanzania is one of the fastest growing mobile markets and has witnessed exponential growth in the use of mobile money services. According to data from GSMA, as of September 2013, 43% of the adult population was actively using mobile money service. In December 2013, the total mobile money transactions recorded in Tanzania was worth USD 1.8 billion, with more than 11 million active mobile money accounts and approximately 153K agents in the region.
Srinivas Nidugondi, Senior VP & Head of Mobile Financial Solutions, Mahindra Comviva said “We are delighted to facilitate interoperability in Tanzania. We have brought a paradigm shift in the mobile money space yet again, by offering an innovative and convenient service that addresses consumer concerns and leads to an increase in agility and business optimization for our customer. Our mobiquity Money solution will ensure a secure environment for money transfers and cash withdrawals, making mobile money services more reliable for end users.”
Sunil Colaso, Managing Director of Airtel Tanzania, said, “Our association with Mahindra Comviva across locations has been extremely fruitful. Mahindra Comviva’s leadership and expertise in the global deployment of mobile financial services makes them an ideal partner of choice for a first-of-its-kind service that allows customers of Airtel Money and Tigo Pesa to transact directly. This service has led to a reduction in off-net charges, resulting in more affordable, hassle-free cash transfers and withdrawals, making Airtel Money more relevant to customers.”
mobiquity Money delivers a host of mobile money services that transform the way consumers save, borrow, transfer and spend money. It is designed to seamlessly integrate consumer touch points with a wide ecosystem of banks, billers, merchants and third-party payment systems, creating a convergence powered by interoperability. Apart from delivering convenience to consumers, the solution enables financial service providers to acquire new customers, create long-term loyalty with existing ones, and seize new revenue opportunities to expand their market footprint. mobiquity Money empowers financial service providers to be agile in their markets, with complete focus on the customers. mobiquity Money has clocked more than 50 deployments in about 40 countries enabling over 35 million registered customers to transact approximately USD 13.5 billion transactions annually.
