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Zain expands e-banking to new countries
07 January 2010
Zain has launched its mobile banking service, Zap, in Niger, Sierra Leone and Malawi, adding to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
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Zain
Zap
One Network
Citibank
Standard Chartered
Zenith Bank
Ecobank
NBS Bank
Comment: Zain has shown that a well thought-out commercial mobile banking service is a natural addition to the package offered to customers. Zap has potential in emerging markets, where customers rarely have bank accounts yet must still pay bills, though mobile banking has yet to be proved in developed economies.
Zain has expanded its Zap mobile banking service to three further African countries, Niger, Sierra Leone and Malawi, less than a year after the service was launched in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The service in Malawi is still a commercial pilot, says Zain, but the company has started full services in Niger and Sierra Leone. In the original three countries, 10 million people have used the Zap mobile commerce service since it was launched in February 2009.
“We already saw the impact Zap has made the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda,” said Zain chairman and CEO Saad Al Barrak. “We are confident that we will see a similar impact in Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone, where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban hubs.”
Zain is working with financial partners in each country: National Bank of Malawi and NBS Bank in Malawi; EcoBank in Niger; and Zenith Bank in Sierra Leone. In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda Zain’s banking partners are Citibank and Standard Chartered.
“The expansion of this revolutionary mobile commerce service to Malawi, Niger and Sierra Leone is an extremely important step in pushing the boundaries of mobile communications,” said Al Barrak.
Customers will be able to use any mobile phone — including the ultra-low-cost handsets that Zain is promoting across Africa — to withdraw cash, pay bills, send and receive money, manage bank accounts and top up their own or someone else’s airtime.
Zap is also part of Zain’s One Network platform, which gives customers normal access to the network across geographic borders without roaming surcharges. Customers will be able to use all of the Zap features when travelling to an associate Zain One Network country. GTB