Oberthur Technologies partners with mBank to offer mobile branchless banking in emerging markets

Oberthur Technologies, a world leader in digital security solutions for the mobility space, today announced its partnership with mBank, an entity affiliated to the PlaNet Finance group that aims to facilitate financial inclusion through mobile technology, to offer mobile branchless banking in emerging markets.

In these markets, banks and mobile operators need to adapt to deliver the right banking offer to the unbanked population. Today, the expectations of these customers go beyond peer-to-peer and bill payments allowed by most mobile money initiatives. They are looking at services such as loans, savings and insurance. While banks and mobile operators have a real opportunity to answer these expectations via the mobile phone, they need true expertise coming with innovative products and consulting to deliver these services with high scalability and low cost of operation.

Bringing together the m:Wallet solution of the OT subsidiary, MoreMagic and mBank's expertise in branchless banking services, the partnering companies have created an extended mobile branchless banking offer. The m:Wallet, which has already supported a large number of services such as merchant payment and money transfers for more than a decade, will now include a full range of micro-finance services such as loan, credit and insurance. On top of this enriched wallet, the solution will also include core banking and back-office capabilities for operating the branchless bank, as well as risk management tools and business consulting skills.

"The fully packaged offer we are providing with mBank will enable banks and mobile operators to reach an untapped customer segment and to ensure the profitability of their mobile money offers. Mobile micro-finance services are expected to create a significant shift in the take-off of mobile money with stronger adoption and usage, not only because they are matching the expectation of local populations for real banking services, but also because they will generate higher transaction volumes," said Pankaj Gulati, CEO of MoreMagic, an OT company.

"We aim at serving millions of clients currently not reached by traditional banking and micro-finance institutions. With its worldwide footprint in the telecoms and banking markets, and with MoreMagic's expertise in mobile money, OT is a partner of choice to launch a mobile branchless banking solution. Together, by serving markets that lack a comprehensive banking infrastructure and have a high penetration of mobile telephony, we will further contribute towards financial inclusion," said Arnaud Ventura, co-founder of PlaNet Finance Group and co-founder of mBank Group.