The move will see Monitise, an established Visa partner, utilising its proven Globe platform, to offer financial services over the mobile phone to the unbanked. The service will also see the first deployment of the Monitise Mobile Wallet solution.
Monitise is delighted to have the opportunity to work with local partners to enable anyone in Nigeria with a mobile handset to access financial services.
The project will be in part enabled by the US $1.5m of development funding made by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund to Monitise in 2009.
Monitise's technology enables users to securely manage their money on their mobile phones and take advantage of a number of services including:
- Adding money to their handset's mobile wallet or making withdrawals at a countrywide network of processing agents
- Transferring money to other people or organisations over the handset
- Obtaining their balances via SMS text alerts
- Future services will include savings, insurance and pensions
Lee Cameron, Chief Commercial Officer of Monitise, said: "In conjunction with our local partners, we are delighted to be able to offer Monitise's technology in to this well regulated environment, empowering the millions of Nigerians who cannot access, or simply do not have, a conventional bank account - what we know as the ‘unbanked' - to enjoy the security and benefits of inclusion within the financial world.
"We are committed to bringing the latest developments in mobile money management and payments to the unbanked across not just Africa but India and South East Asia as well."
Prateek Shrivastava, Managing Director of Monitise Africa, said: "Of Nigeria's 149 million strong population, 19 million have bank accounts, but 75 million have mobile phones - which amply illustrates the potential of mobile payments services across the country."
The first phase of the Monitise service will be launched in 2011 directly to consumers. In parallel the service will also be offered on a white label basis to the country's banks and financial service providers.
