Pakistan’s underbanked get evolved mobile money services from Easypaisa and Ericsson
To accelerate the uptake of mobile money services among the underbanked in Pakistan, Ericsson has announced that Easypaisa, Pakistan’s first and largest branchless banking solution, is deploying Ericsson Wallet Platform to replace its existing platform.
Easypaisa was launched jointly by Tameer Micro Finance Bank and Telenor Pakistan. Norway-based Telenor Group, which owns Telenor Pakistan, recently completed the acquisition of Tameer Micro Finance Bank.
Easypaisa’s partnership with Ericsson accelerates and increases the availability of mobile money services for the country’s citizens, while positioning banks to succeed in an expanding mobile money ecosystem. Easypaisa is replacing its existing platform with Ericsson’s mobile financial service solution, which allows consumers to conduct secure mobile banking transactions with ease and helps Easypaisa bring mobile money to unbanked citizens.
Pakistan has an estimated population of 199 million, with approximately 60% of people living on under $2 a day and only 15% reported to have a bank account.
The existing Easypaisa service, which includes an integrated m-commerce solution, already supports more than 21 million active consumers and 75,000 agents in over 800 cities throughout the region, including rural areas. This deployment represents one of the largest mobile money service offerings in the world.
Nadeem Hussain, founder, president and CEO at Tameer Micro Finance Bank, said: “Easypaisa is continuously focusing on enhancing customers’ experience of doing financial transactions in a secure and seamless manner. It is essential to have the right technology partner to roll out new services that provide added benefits and services to propel financial inclusion through branchless banking.”
Muhammad Yahya Khan, CFO at Telenor Pakistan, added: “Ericsson’s next generation wallet platform is helping Easypaisa increase volumes and payment transactions, enabling wider mobile money adoption and offering a seamless customer experience. We will continue to expand our mobile money offerings, benefiting our subscribers throughout the country with our new platform.”
Meanwhile, Peter Heuman, VP and head of m-commerce at Ericsson, noted: “Through our work with Easypaisa and Telenor, we provide mobile subscribers with more choices for performing secure and reliable mobile financial transactions.
“Ericsson Wallet Platform simplifies banking transactions on mobile devices, supporting the efforts that our customers and partners are undertaking to create a more flexible and transparent global financial ecosystem. These efforts are advanced by the power of Ericsson solutions to help banks and financial service providers launch mobile financial services quickly.”
