Mi-Pay, a mobile money company based in the United Kingdom, has recently announced that it has partnered with Small World Financial Services (a global money transfer business based in Europe) to globally expand mobile money payment solutions. The partnership will focus on providing operators with solutions for international prepay phone top-up and global money transfer functionality to over 30 countries. No additional information regarding how the network will function or its scope is provided.
According to Business Intelligence Middle East, a business information company based in Dubai, the partnership with Small World and Mi-Pay would provide a mix of operational, regulatory consultation, business and technical processes, and market knowledge to facilitate mobile money payment solutions globally. Mobile phone top-up is a recharge service that allows customers in one country to buy airtime for people in different countries via the Internet or on a foreign mobile network for prepaid mobile phones. Mi-Pay’s global top-up service hub will also provide Small World the ability to offer international prepay phone airtime to its customers. In turn Mi-Pay will be able to extend its services into new countries and regions while leveraging the distribution network to work earlier with clients in the regulatory, compliance and payment process.
Mi-Pay was originally established in 2003 as a provider of digital payment services. By 2005, Mi-Pay became a business process outsourcer, providing multi-channel pre-paid recharge operations for mobile operators in Europe and the Middle East. Mi-Pay also incorporated SecureLink Java technology in 2005 to provide a banking grade secure mobile payments client for 85 percent plus of handsets. More recently, Mi-Pay has taken its mobile payments experience into the provision of mobile phone based banking, micro-finance and authentication. According to Mi-Pay, the company also has industry experience in digital payment services. Mi-Pay is a founding member of the GSMA’s Mobile Money Vendor program and is active participant in the Mobile Money for the Unbanked program. No additional information regarding Mi-Pay or Small World’s financial operating statements are available.
Mi-Pay had also announced in May that it has extended its Globaltopup service to include India’s top five major cellular operators, which covers up to 89 percent of the sub-continent’s cellular subscribers. According to Norman Frankel, CEO of Mi-Pay, the Indian mobile market has over 391 million mobile subscribers and 13 mobile operators. Mr. Frankel estimates that the country also has 25 million Indian citizens living and working abroad with the potential of a large base of non-residents regularly helping those financially back home in the form of remittances. No additional data is available to substantiate these assessments.
In May 2008, Mi-Pay had also signed a contract with an East African operator to deliver a mobile money ecosystem to its subscribers in rural communities. No additional information regarding specifics on African operator is provided.
Small World Financial Services Group (headquartered in London, UK), is a pan-European family of retail financial services businesses. The company has over 50 years of financial services experience and offers experience in money transfer and check cashing. The company has 60 branches and over 1,500 agents (operations in over 10 countries) and services retail and corporate customers wishing to send or receive money worldwide. Small World’s brand family includes some of Europe’s marks such as LCC, UNO, Global Link, Express Funds, Universal de Envios and Bayba. Both Small World and Mi-Pay are advisory members of the International Association of Money Transfer Associations.
MicroCapital reported a paper wrap-up by CGAP that discusses the role of mobile operators in expanding access to finance. The brief assesses the capacity and incentives for mobile operators to provide financial services. The authors conclude that while mobile operators do not necessarily need to “own” the financial services associated with mobile banking, there are several options for mobile operators to participate in financial services delivery.
According to a recent MicroCapital report, a CGAP-GSMA Mobile Money Market Sizing Study found that the market for mobile financial services could increase to USD 5 billion by 2012. CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and the GSM Association (GSMA) published the results of a study estimating the size of the mobile financial market at the Mobile Money Summit in late June 2009.
MicroCapital recently published details of the Mobile Money Summit 2009 that was held in Barcelona. Further details about the event can be found here.
By Zoran Stanisljevic
Additional Resources:
Business Intelligence Middle East: Mi-Pay and Small World Create ‘Mobile Money’ Superhighway for Mobile Operators
MicroCapital Story, June 2009: MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: The Role of Mobile Operators in Expanding Access to Finance, by Ignacio Mas and Jim Rosenberg for the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
MicroCapital Story, June 2009: CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) and the GSM Association Release Mobile Money Market Sizing Study which Estimates Mobile Financial Services will Reach $5b in 2012
Wireless Federation: M-Pay Extends Globaltopup Service to India
Developing Telecoms: M-Pay to Power Mobile Payments in Africa
Microfinance Event: Mobile Money Summit 2009 in Spain Hosted by CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor), Department for International Development (DFID), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and GSM Association
Mi-Pay: Homepage
Small-World Financial Services: Homepage
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