The first day of Mobile Money Southern Asia was hosted at the Leela Kempinski, Mumbai, on September 27, 2011. Obopay CEO, Mr. Deepak Chandnani was a panellist at this exclusive event and also a speaker later in the day.
Deepak took the stage in the first session of the day unlocking the potential of mobile money in South Asia. The panel included eminent executives representing large corporations keenly looking at the mobile money potential in South Asia. They included Gary Singh, MD, Nokia Money; Krishna Kumar, GM Marketing Mobile commerce, Vodafone Essar and Rahul Joshi, Joint General Manager, ICICI Bank.
Current state of mobile payment in the region was seen through the lens of banks and MNO’s. The panel identified trends and hot spots, opportunities for mobile money services, existing mobile banking mechanisms and recognized obstacles facing full deployment of the mobile money ecosystem. Deepak mentioned Obopay’s presence in Kenya, and the rapid growth of adoption in the Indian market. He also emphasized on the huge underserved unbanked segment in India.
Deepak in his address in the pre-lunch session focussed on the Indian market. He concluded that India will have the largest base of mobile financial services users, multiple times the numbers that we see today in markets such as Kenya and the Philippines.
October 13th, 2011
Mobile Money Is The Most Important Innovation In Banking In 30 Years
Mobile Money is reaching a tipping point in the US. I just returned from traveling around the world meeting with bankers discussing their successes with mobile. All the bankers I talked to are working on mobile banking. But it isn’t just about the rest of world anymore – it’s happening here in the US as well and it is changing everything.
Today Obopay announced a new offering, Mobile Money for Banks. US banks are beginning to understand how big and transformational mobile will be for their business. And Obopay has developed a bank offering that benefits from our innovation on three continents. It gives the banks what they need to have a strong innovative offering and provides it in a way that they can do a very fast, low cost implementation with a complete mobile money transaction set. 1 month to advanced bank branded mobile money which includes mobile applications, web widgets, and most sought after consumer use cases. Mobile payments have reached a tipping point.
The offering is way beyond bank transfer (repackaging ACH) and traditional niche P2P services. It includes a number of industry firsts for mobile payments, all based on successful use cases we have experienced: the ability for small sellers and cash based merchants to get paid through mobile phone, website or email; instant payments from one family member to another; and P2Ps that are instant and optimized for a mobile experience. Analysts and our primary research confirms that banks must act now to implement a mobile payment program or risk losing this revenue stream to their competitors or non –traditional providers like Paypal, Apple or Mobile Carriers. With Mobile Money for Banks we are giving them the ability to lead not follow.
It is also the culmination of years of experience and these products are a natural extension of our company strategy, since we have been working with banks some time now. Thus far the response has been very positive as we have shared the details with our banks, channel partners like MasterCard and FIS, and with press and analysts.
We have heard the message from our banking partners regarding what they really want – and we have provided it :
• Bank branded and controlled
• Easy and swift implementation
• Inexpensive solution
I am really excited about the market opportunity and our new offering. Mobile Money will be $630B market according to Jupiter by 2014 – and mobile has a track record of being faster and bigger than anyone ever predicts. Proud of our offering and excited to work with banks.
Mobile Money is reaching a tipping point in the US. I just returned from traveling around the world meeting with bankers discussing their successes with mobile. All the bankers I talked to are working on mobile banking. But it isn’t just about the rest of world anymore – it’s happening here in the US as well and it is changing everything.
Today Obopay announced a new offering, Mobile Money for Banks. US banks are beginning to understand how big and transformational mobile will be for their business. And Obopay has developed a bank offering that benefits from our innovation on three continents. It gives the banks what they need to have a strong innovative offering and provides it in a way that they can do a very fast, low cost implementation with a complete mobile money transaction set. 1 month to advanced bank branded mobile money which includes mobile applications, web widgets, and most sought after consumer use cases. Mobile payments have reached a tipping point.
The offering is way beyond bank transfer (repackaging ACH) and traditional niche P2P services. It includes a number of industry firsts for mobile payments, all based on successful use cases we have experienced: the ability for small sellers and cash based merchants to get paid through mobile phone, website or email; instant payments from one family member to another; and P2Ps that are instant and optimized for a mobile experience. Analysts and our primary research confirms that banks must act now to implement a mobile payment program or risk losing this revenue stream to their competitors or non –traditional providers like Paypal, Apple or Mobile Carriers. With Mobile Money for Banks we are giving them the ability to lead not follow.
It is also the culmination of years of experience and these products are a natural extension of our company strategy, since we have been working with banks some time now. Thus far the response has been very positive as we have shared the details with our banks, channel partners like MasterCard and FIS, and with press and analysts.
We have heard the message from our banking partners regarding what they really want – and we have provided it:
- Bank branded and controlled
- Easy and swift implementation
- Inexpensive solution
I am really excited about the market opportunity and our new offering. Mobile Money will be $630B market according to Jupiter by 2014 – and mobile has a track record of being faster and bigger than anyone ever predicts. Proud of our offering and excited to work with banks.
Links:
May 11th, 2010
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.
December 16th, 2009
We lucked onto the Google Mobile site and found this great how to help your business go mobile. Google called businesses “marketers” and we call them merchants, but all are one in the same. Here’s information directly from Google:
“Did you know that 50% of all new internet connections in 2009 will come from mobile phones? More and more people worldwide are accessing the web with their mobile phones, making mobile an important platform for marketers to reach their audience. Mobile creates the opportunity to individually engage with more people than any other channel. So, here are some tips from Google to help you reach your audience on mobile phones and drive results for your business.”
And, here’s an idea from Obopay:
Once you’ve set-up your business to go mobile you can collect customer payments instantly – and for free – using Obopay, of course! 
Click start right now to learn more!
October 15th, 2009
“In the rich world, mobile money brings convenience and speed. In the developing world, mobile telephony provides the only feasible infrastructure to bring banking to the poor,” Godfrey Supka from IBS Publishing reports.
While this story isn’t a new one, since the concept for Obopay happened while Carol Realini, Obopay’s founder and CEO, was doing volunteer work in Africa, IBS Publishing makes a good business case for why microfinance institutions (MFIs) will help millions of people get on their feet and build a secure future.
October 1st, 2009
“On its surface Nokia Money sounds very similar to PayPal, but the service is expected to offer deeper money management abilities from a cell phone…..the Obopay service received a “very good” rating from CNET, which praised its “operability with most phones and overall ease of use.”
Another article also noted the important role mobile money can play in financial education: “Access to banking tools such as Nokia Money are incredibly important for low income individuals who, in the absence of banks, rely on check cashing and bill paying locations, whose fees eat into their ability to save money.” One report from January 2008 indicated that if the average non banking customer stopped paying to cash checks, he could save $360,000 over his lifetime in pre-tax money.
In addition to the fee-saving benefit, “the access to banking tools is a fundamental step in getting one’s personal finances in order and moving out of a paycheck to paycheck cycle.” Since mobile money is a growing global trend, it may become a positive factor in economic development in emerging economies.
August 28th, 2009
Ovum predicts that the most likely scenario will be where penetration reaches between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of the emerging market’s mobile users in 2014. If market barriers are effectively addressed, an optimistic scenario could see mobile money services reaching between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the mobile users in the emerging market by 2014. According to one of the report’s co-authors, “recruitment, training, ‘incentivising’ and support of networks of mobile money agents will be key to service providers’ mobile money strategies.”
July 31st, 2009
Previous Posts
SIGN UP FOR OBOPAY!