MTN Group is launching a mobile financial-services product for its more than 100 million telecommunication subscribers in Africa and the Middle East that uses Gemalto NV’s SIM-based security module, according to the France-based card vendor. The product will enable subscribers to check account balances and conduct such mobile services as funds transfers and payments.
MTN Group is a South Africa-based telecommunications operator in Africa and the Middle East.
A subscriber identity module, or SIM, is a removable card that stores information in mobile devices. Users of MTN Group’s product, known as MTN MobileMoney, can insert the SIM card into most phones that use Global Systems for Mobile Communications, a digital standard used in many mobile devices. The product features a menu on the phone for use in selecting services, and multiple language options are available.
“Since all of the applications are on the SIM, it makes it almost impenetrable to hackers,” says a Gemalto spokesperson. “The SIM also encrypts the information communication being sent and received to and from the phone,” which creates a more secure environment in which users may complete financial transactions, says the spokesperson, who declined to name the specific countries in which the service will be available.
The mobile markets in Africa and the Middle East are among those with the highest growth rates, yet they also have the lowest market-penetration rates, says the spokesperson.
Red Gillen, senior analyst at Celent, a Boston-based market-research firm, agrees. “The African continent has seen some of the most-robust growth of mobile payments and is certainly a leading region for mobile payments,” he says. A sign of growth is that mobile carriers, such as MTN Group, in most African countries now are offering some form of mobile-payment service, he adds.
Gemalto worked with South Africa-based mobile financial-service provider Fundamo to jointly supply the product to MTN Group.
MTN Group officials did not return a request for comment by deadline.
Gemalto also this week announced a partnership with HighCo to provide a consumer coupon service using Near Field Communication, a two-way contactless function for mobile phones that supports payments and information downloads. France-based HighCo is a provider of marketing products and services for retailers and consumer-goods manufacturers.
