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 Mobile Commerce, Banking &
Payments, Migration: A pilot programme aims to tap mobile technology to help
the world’s 200 million international migrant workers, many of whom don’t have bank accounts, send remittances to their dependents easily and securely. Spearheaded by 19 mobile operators in over 100 countries and representing over
600 million customers, the programme has ambitious aims...
Launching their programme in pilot form, the GSM
Association aims to tap the ubiquity and ease-of-use of mobile communications
in order to aid the international migrant worker community to easily and
securely send remittances to their dependents, many of whom do not have bank
accounts. By exploiting the extensive reach of the mobile networks, the
programme will complement existing local remittances channels and make
transferring money internationally significantly more affordable for a group of
people numbering almost 200 million globally.
Spearheaded by a special group of 19 mobile operators with
networks in over 100 countries and representing over 600 million customers, the
GSMA believes the programme could double the number of recipients of
international remittances to more than 1.5 billion, while helping to quadruple
the size of the international remittances market to more than US$1 trillion by
2012.
Therefore, to combine the strengths of the mobile and
financial ecosystems, mobile operators are partnering with banks both local and
regionally, while the GSMA is also setting up a pilot with MasterCard Worldwide.
The latter has a 25,000 member-bank network, and both parties plan to pilot a
global hub that will link together national markets and the local payment
systems run by mobile operators in partnership with those local banks. The hub
will enable migrant workers to trigger international money transfers and to
notify their families, both via their mobile phones.
“The creation of a global hub will enable the mobile
networks, which now cover more than 80% of the world’s population, to offer the
world’s burgeoning migrant population a convenient way to securely and
cost-effectively transfer money to their families back in their home
countries,” stated Rob Conway, GSMA CEO. “We are mobilising financial services
for the billions of people who are the unbanked and the underbanked.”
For MasterCard, Roy Dunbar, President, Global Technology
and Operations, said: “In its pivotal role at the heart of commerce, MasterCard
has always been committed to harnessing its payment card products and advanced
technology to help drive innovation, pioneer new forms of payment and help
steer the future of global commerce.
“This pilot provides a unique opportunity to use our global
payments products and platform to help open up new business opportunities in
developing countries. We look forward to working with local markets and
partners to bring much needed payment and money transfer alternatives to the
vast community of the underbanked - as well as all consumers wishing to
transfer money internationally.”
Support from Asia and the Middle East
India is both the world’s fastest growing mobile services market and the
biggest recipient of overseas remittances in the world, accounting for around
10% of the world market. Therefore, two senior executives in this market have
lent their support.
“We believe that this coming together of the mobile and
banking industry is a giant leap in mobile commerce,” said Sunil Bharti Mittal,
Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel and Board Member of the GSM
Association. “It will revolutionise the money transfer industry with its
advantages, such as reach, ease of use, and lower transaction costs and provide
immense benefits to people in developing nations such as India.”
O P Bhat, Chairman, State Bank of India, India’s
largest bank, added: “We are happy to partner with the GSM Association in this
landmark project. We piloted a project in the small Himalayan village of Pithoragarh in
India with Airtel and have seen the tremendous results in this unbanked
village. This project has the potential of transforming lives and economies
across the globe.”
Smart Communications of the Philippines, another participant in the programme, plans to launch several
pilot projects in collaboration with mobile phone operators and banks in Bahrain, Italy and
other countries hosting large Filipino migrant populations. In Bahrain,
for example, Smart will work in partnership with MTC Vodafone Bahrain
and a leading bank in the Middle East. Through the Smart Services Hub, Filipino migrants and contract
workers can remit funds back to the Philippines conveniently and affordably using their mobile phones. Smart also
sees the need for a global hub that will be interoperable with the Smart
Services Hub. As part of the GSMA programme, Smart plans to launch a pilot
project with MasterCard as an authorisation, clearing and settlement partner.
In the words of Napoleon L Nazareno, Smart President and
CEO: “Aside from lowering costs, we shall provide Filipinos overseas with
greater control over the manner in which their remittances are transmitted and
used back home - enabling them to send funds in the amounts of their choice,
whenever they want, wherever they are.”
International remittances, which total more than US$230
billion a year, are already a major source of income for many developing
countries and a very important factor in their economic development: “The
programme will resonate with governments because it makes the international
payment market more transparent, encourages financial inclusion, reduces crime
and boosts the flow of hard currency into their countries,” added Rob Conway.
The GSMA will also be working with CGAP (the Consultative
Group to Assist the Poor), a micro-finance group housed at the World Bank, and
the UK Government’s Department for International Development to conduct a
survey of the regulatory environment in about 20 countries, as a precursor to
discussions with regulators in these countries about creating the optimum
regulatory framework for money transfer and eventually mobile banking and
mobile commerce.
More info:
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Date: 8 - 11 December 2008