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Orange, Ecobank launch mobile money transfer service
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- The new service allows Ecobank customers in those countries to use their mobile phones to securely transfer money between accounts.
Orange, the French telecoms giant, and Ecobank, the Pan-African financial services group, have launched a bank-to-wallet money transfer service linked to Orange Money accounts in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Niger.
In a press statement released on Monday, Orange said the new service allows Ecobank customers in those countries to use their mobile phones to securely transfer money between accounts at any time without recourse to a distribution point or physical cash. Ecobank customers can also view bank account balance and obtain mini-statements by SMS via the service.
“Since its launch in January 2015 in Mali, this service has been a huge success with close to 110 million euros transferred between Ecobank and Orange Money accounts,” said Thierry Millet, Director of Orange Money, Mobile Payment, and Contactless. “This easy-to-use system meets the demands of customers who already have a bank account and who want to use their mobile phones to carry out bank operations, wherever they are in the country and at whatever time of day.”
Launched in Côte d’Ivoire in December 2008, Orange Money is currently available in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Over 16 million customers have used Orange Money to transfer about 8 billion euros in 2015.
“We have seen remarkable success in the volume of bank transfers since the beginning of a successful partnership between Ecobank and Orange and we are confident that this service will also have a great success the new countries that are embarking on this service,” said Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive, Consumer Banking at Ecobank Group.
“It is a platform which highlights the importance of on-line banking and mobile today and to our commitment in bringing convenient banking services to everyone in central Africa.”
Orange has been on an acquisition spree in Africa. In 2016 alone, Orange paid $160 million for Tigo DRC and $900 million for Bharti Airtel’s operations in Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone. Orange also acquired Cellcom Telecommunications, the second largest mobile operator in Liberia.
So far, the French telecoms giant has operations in over 20 African countries, including Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Niger, Mali, Tunisia, Kenya, and Egypt.
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