-
Viewpoint: Unified Payment Interface Will Be the Next Big Thing in Mobile Banking in India
Mobile payments just got a leg-up, thanks to the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), probably the only app of its kind in the world. Virtual wallet services have been around for a while now. UPI goes a step further and allows you to make payments by simply entering the payee's virtual ID on your smartphone and feeding the PIN the app requests. The money is debited directly from your account and transferred to the payee in a matter of minutes, without you having to provide either your bank details or the payee's bank IFSC code. In a few simple steps you can make transactions worth up to a lakh. The app on your phone need not be of the bank you hold your account in, but of any bank whose user experience you prefer. The same goes for the payee. But the transactions still take place between the underlying banks, without you even knowing about it. No need to worry about your credit card details being compromised.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
-
Samsung Pay Strikes Partnership With Chinese Online Payment Giant Alipay
Samsung announced today that it has cemented a deal that will make Alipay, China’s largest online payments platform, available through Samsung Pay.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- digital payments, fintech
-
United Nations study finds digital payments to Ebola response workers saved lives and $10 million
By using digital payments to pay Ebola response workers, Sierra Leone massively cut payment times, avoiding large-scale strikes and ensuring a stable workforce to defeat Ebola.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
The Unstoppable Rise of Fintech Is Rapidly Changing the Way Africans Transact
Africa is fertile ground for new fintech services which are leveraging the power of communities and social media to make financial services more relevant, while using data to deliver more meaningful financial services on an ongoing basis.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Mobile Money in South Africa: What’s in It for Banks?
The 2015 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Financial Services tabled at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona brings some interesting but not unexpected figures on the state of mobile money today. I say “unexpected” because any innovation that delivers simple, affordable and accessible product is bound to make its presence felt and disrupting the traditional systems.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- fintech
-
Pakistan State Bank Issues Rules for Mobile Banking Interoperability
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) jointly developed regulations for mobile banking interoperability for banks and mobile network operators to enhance outreach and connectivity.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
-
Facebook Has Finally Launched Free Basics in Its Biggest African Market
Social network giant, Facebook, has launched its Free Basics service in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country—and its biggest market on the continent. The platform which allows users to access listed websites at no cost was launched in partnership with Airtel, the country’s third largest telecoms operator with almost 34 million subscribers.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Viewpoint: The Challenges of Mobile Financial Inclusion
One of the gating factors to financial inclusion is the mobile network itself. It sounds simple to say that all of Africa can have access to mobile money, and they can, but if each telco has different wallet structures, charges and fees, then the ease of usage falls sharply. This is why interoperability is a key factor and Tanzania leads the way in this regard.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa