Etisalat Group transforms mobile banking service

Smartphone banking service app Leading mobile telecommunications provider, Etisalat Group, through its subsidiary in Nigeria, announced the launch of a new and comprehensive smartphone app that will enable customers to access their mobile money services faster and with more ease.
The introduction of the innovative app expands the company's award-winning mobile banking offerings to customers. The app is available for free download from various online app stores.
Since September 2012, Etisalat has partnered with leading international and regional banks including GTBank, Zenith Bank, Stanbic Bank, First Bank Nigeria, as well as Paga Payment Network to allow Etisalat Nigeria customers to conveniently access banking services through their mobile phones. Till date, the service has successfully registered over 15 million SIM Tool Kit' application downloads on consumer SIM cards.
Khalifa Al Forah, Etisalat Group's Chief Digital Services Officer said, "Etisalat is at the forefront of technology innovation, bringing market relevant and transformational services to its customers across the group markets. Nigeria currently has a smartphone penetration of over 10 per cent and it expected to reach 40 per cent in the next two years. By enabling people to use their mobile phones to access advanced banking services, we not only hope to deliver lasting benefits to our customers , but also contribute to the socio-economic development of the economies of Nigeria and other countries that we operate in." Etisalat's new smartphone app adds new dimensions to its existing mobile banking service. It supports all currently available functions and allows for more flexibility and convenience through additional features. The new app supports all major platforms including Android, Apple iOS, Windows Mobile and Java. It has a crisp, intuitive user interface accessible in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages. It uses advanced ISO-1 compliant security features which ensure safe customer transactions that cannot be intercepted or manipulated by fraudsters. The app provides easy user interaction through icons, pictograms and bar-code reading functionalities.
To develop this transformational service expansion, Etisalat has been working with globally renowned financial and technology partners in Nigeria to comply with local and global banking regulations and to facilitate payments and settlements in line with internationally recognised standards.
Etisalat is also partnering with major Nigerian financial institutions such as NIBSS, banks and major global players such as MasterCard Worldwide to provide customers bill payment facility, merchant transactions and merchant trading solutions. These partnerships also allow Etisalat customers to top-up airtime for family and friends, regardless of which network they are on.
Matthew Willsher, CEO Etisalat Nigeria 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 as well as introduce efficient tool for secure financial management. We believe the benefits to our customers will be immense and that this has the potential to transform the way we handle and manage money in this country. The mobile phone has already improved African life in so many ways - it's exciting to think it now has the potential to replace notes and coins and give all of our customers' access to world-class banking services." Etisalat currently offers mobile commerce services in 11 operations of the group. Its Mobile Wallet service "Flous" is an industrial grade, open-loop commerce ecosystem which includes mobile payments (merchants, utility, transportation), money transfers (domestic and International), bank accounts/payment cards management, secure access, ticketing, as well as merchant payment acceptance service "Mobile Cashier".
In 2013, the ‘Flous' won prestigious GSMA MWC award in Barcelona as "The Best NFC/ Mobile Money Product", received special recognition from the IFC/World Bank in the "Technology in sustainable Finance" category and was honoured with Mobile Banking Kalahari Award in Lagos, Nigeria.
Source: WAM