Obopay CEO Carol Realini talks about Essar Telecom Kenya & Obopay Mobile Money Transfer Service

December 16th, 2009

Obopay CEO Carol Realini

What excites you about having Obopay’s mobile payment services operational in Kenya?

As many people know my experience while traveling in Africa was key to the founding of Obopay. While on a social-action mission I saw people with bags of devalued currency buying prepaid minutes in a mobile phone store – it looked exactly like an image you would expect to see in a bank.

So I asked why mobile phones couldn’t become defacto banks, allowing people to move money around in ways they never could before. This was especially exciting since only about 5% of all people in Africa are banked.

So from that beginning in Africa, the big idea of Obopay was to leverage the growing ubiquity of mobile phones to deliver financial services to all people.

This launch in Kenya is especially exciting since we with Essar Telecom are delivering on that promise. We are now operational in three countries on three continents – US,  India,  and Kenya.

Why did Obopay partner with Essar to deliver yuCash by Obopay?

As you may know, Essar Communications Holdings Limited, the telecom subsidiary of Essar Global Limited, invested in Obopay in 2008. They share our vision for financial inclusion, and delivering advanced mobile banking and payment services. Although yu is new to Kenya, they are the fastest growing mobile operator in East Africa.

How do you imagine yuCash by Obopay changing people’s lives and small businesses in Africa?

I can image a lot. In some ways, Kenya is one of the most advanced mobile banking and payments market in the world. Already in Kenya, consumers know mobile banking changes things. Money can safely be stored on their phone, sending and receiving money can be done reliably, securely and instantly via their mobile phone, and now consumers are beginning to look for solutions to do even more with mobile money.

With our initial launch, we have already included new features and capabilities consumers are asking for.  YuCash by Obopay displays a host of unique features which enhance the subscriber’s experience over and above just sending and receiving money.  One very useful feature is the ability of a consumer to get a complete record of their transactions of the past 30 days – enabling them to keep a clear track on their transactions, eliminating the need to keep a manual record.

Banking empowers people in their life and work. Mobile Money brings banking to millions of people in Africa that have for so long been unserved by traditional bank methods. In the long term, I can image mobile money being the most important currency in Kenya – more important than cash, check or cards. Obopay is very excited about being there and teaming with such innovative partners as Essar Telecom, yu and Equity Bank.

What is different about yuCash by Obopay mobile payment services?

Already the service has unique features for Kenya; transaction history, invitations for family and friends, on the mobile phone help, short messages with transactions, and the ability to request money. Request money is a unique feature that enables the recipient of the money to initiate the transaction and request the sender to send a certain amount of money. The sender only has to confirm and have sufficient funds to send and the transaction gets concluded.

And this is just the beginning. The Obopay platform is the leading global mobile payment platform – and the number of great partners is growing.

You can tell I am really excited about the partnership with Essar Telecom, Equity Bank, and the launch of yuCash by Obopay. This is the realization of my dream of Obopay in Africa.