MTN Uganda taps Gemalto for mobile payments
Gemalto announced it has been selected by MTN Uganda for its national mobile payment program. Service rollout started in March and to date, around 180,000 m-payment transactions have already been performed.
MTN Uganda is part of the MTN Group, a multinational telecommunications group operating in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East and serving more than 100 million subscribers, including 4.2 million in Uganda. Gemalto provided MTN Uganda with a solution that includes the server for interconnecting the operator with its banking service provider, and the SIM cards storing and executing the m-payment application.
The company also supplied server integration services and acts as technological partner of MTN Uganda. The Gemalto solution provides a means for MTN Uganda subscribers to carry out peer-to-peer fund transfer using their mobile phone, whether or not they have a bank account. It also makes m-payment accessible to users who do not have an Internet access.
An menu enables consumers to send and receive money, buy airtime, withdraw cash from a local retailer, with the security provided by the SIM card. Since the SIM card is the only application platform working with 100% of handsets, subscribers can perform m-payment transactions using any type of mobile phone, which means the service is immediately available to all.