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Mobile banking changing the world - Ecobank

Mobile banking changing the world - Ecobank
By Gift Chanda
Fri 14 Sep. 2012, 10:28 CAT

ECOBANK sees mobile banking is a tool for boosting access levels to basic banking services in the country, a senior official said yesterday.

Lauzi Mwamba, Ecobank Zambia head of mobile banking, said the increased rate of mobile phone penetration together with the bank's focus on mobile banking is expected to drive the growth in the country's financial sector.

Zambia's mobile user penetration has been on an increase with an estimated 8.2 million subscribers on the mobile phone grid.

Mwamba told delegates at the ongoing Celpay Zambia fourth annual conference in Lusaka yesterday of the importance of focusing on mobile banking to augment efforts aimed at getting more people to access financial services in the country.

She said because the use of mobile banking allows customers at the bottom end of the pyramid to have access to basic banking services through the mobile phone, more local people are expected to have access to basic financial services.

Mwamba observed that mobile penetration has far exceeded banking penetration and therefore the introduction of mobile banking allows more people to have access to basic banking.

"The mobile revolution is here and is changing the world," she said.

"It is up to us to embrace it and explore its many offerings to create the growth we are all looking for."

Mwamba said for Ecobank, mobile banking is clearly seen as the most efficient model for driving banking transactions and scaling them to millions of customers rapidly.

"The unbanked customers are seen as the key demand driver for Ecobank Mobile," added Mwamba.

"...because mobile banking is an affordable and reliable means of providing access to financial services to the unbanked in the urban as well as the rural areas of Zambia."

Earlier, Celpay international group chief executive officer Lazarous Muchenje said mobile banking has propelled significant changes in the financial sector globally.

He said at least 600 mobile payment platforms have sprawled over the last decade but only 10 per cent of those have been successful, especially in developing countries.

Celpay, which had been operating locally as Celpay Zambia Limited for the past 10 years, had handled close to US$2 billion worth of transactions.

The firm with other operations in Zimbabwe, Uganda, the UK and the Democratic Republic of Congo plans to invest US$10 million over the next five years to expand its operations in southern Africa.

Labels: ECOBANK, ICT, MOBILE PHONES

posted by MrK @ 2:12 PM