MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Communications Company Telenor Pakistan Launch Mobile Banking Service with Tameer Microfinance Bank

Telenor Pakistan, a subsidiary of the Norwegian mobile communications company, Telenor, and Tameer Microfinance Bank, a microfinance bank that is partially owned by Telenor, have launched a mobile banking service called “easypaisa” [1,2,3,4]. With the service, customers will be able to manage their accounts via their mobile phone, as well as send and receive money and pay bills from various outlets [1].

Telenor and Tameer have created 2,000 of these outlets in which customers, who may not have a mobile phone of their own, can have an easypaisa agent pay his or her bill or obtain account information quickly via a mobile phone for a small fee [5]. This is meant to tackle the “inconvenience and security issues associated with current options for paying bills” [5]. If they do have a Telenor mobile phone, customers can take advantage of account management services such as sending a text to obtain account balance information for bills [5]. There are also plans for the service to incorporate “money transfer, mobile wallet accounts, cash deposits and withdrawal facilities” [1].

Mudassar Hussain, the Director of Telecom of the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunications, sees mobile banking as an important development in the extension of financial services in Pakistan. He makes the point that while 90 million people in the country have cell phone subscriptions, only 30 million have bank accounts [1]. Microcapital has reported on various mobile banking developments as of late [6,7,8].

Telenor Pakistan was launched in March 2005 [2]. They now have a “network of 23 company-owned sales and service centers, more than 200 franchises and some 100,000 retail outlets” [2]. It is owned, 100 percent, by its parent company, Telenor [2]. Telenor has entered 13 different markets in Europe and Asia, and has over 165,000 mobile subscriptions [2]. Microcapital recently reported in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) of Grameenphone, a cell phone provider in Bangladesh that is 62 percent owned by Telenor [8,9]. The rest of the company is owned by Grameen Telecom, “a non-profit telecommunications service provider with the objective of providing universal coverage for villagers” [8,10]. Grameen Telecom receives “infra-structural support” from Grameen Bank, the microfinance institution started in 1976 [8,11]. This IPO, valued at USD 70.4 million, was the biggest in the history of Bangladesh [8].

Tameer Microfinance Bank is licensed as a commercial bank and was founded in 2005 [4]. According to its website, it is “one of the first nation-wide, private sector, commercially sustainable micro-finance institutions in Pakistan” [4]. It offers services such as small business loans, group loans, emergency loans, micro mortgages, microinsurance, savings, and deposits [4]. In November of 2008, Telenor Pakistan acquired 51 percent of Tameer in a deal worth over USD 12.5 million, as reported on Microcapital [12]. This article also addresses Tameer’s use of mobile banking to reach remote customers even prior to the announcement of easypaisa [13]. According to its website, Tameer has over 69,000 active borrowers and an outstanding loan portfolio worth Rs 1.3 billion, the equivalent of over USD 27.7 million [4]. According to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse, as of the end of 2008, Tameer has a return on assets of -0.08 percent, a return on equity of -0.31 percent, and a debt to equity ratio of .92 [14].

By Christopher Maggio, Research Assistant

Bibliography:
[1] Cellular News article entitled ‘Telenor Launches Mobile Banking Service in Pakistan’: http://www.cellular-news.com/story/40137.php
[2] Telenor Pakistan: http://www.telenor.com.pk/
[3] Telenor: http://www.telenor.com/
[4] Tameer Microfinance Bank: http://www.tameerbank.com/
[5] Mobile Money for the Unbanked article entitled ‘Telenor Launches ‘easypaisa’ in Pakistan’: http://mmublog.org/asia/telenor-launches-easypaisa-in-pakistan/
[6] MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: The Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) Provides $4m Grant for Microfinance Technology Projects in Latin America and Caribbean: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapitalorg-story-the-inter-american-development-bank%E2%80%99s-idb-multilateral-investment-fund-mif-provides-4m-grant-for-microfinance-technology-projects-in-latin-america-and-caribbean/
[7] MICROCAPITAL STORY: Nokia and SKS Microfinance to Introduce New Mobile Phone Features for Rural Poor: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-nokia-and-sks-microfinance-to-introduce-new-mobile-phone-features-for-rural-poor/
[8] MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Grameenphone (GP) of Bangladesh Closes Subscription for Country’s Largest IPO of $70.4m: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapitalorg-story-grameenphone-gp-of-bangladesh-closes-subscription-for-country%E2%80%99s-largest-ipo-of-704m/
[9] Grameenphone: http://www.grameenphone.com/
[10] Grameen Telecom: http://www.grameentelecom.net.bd/
[11] Grameen Bank: http://www.grameen-info.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=114
[12] MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Mongolia’s XacBank and Horus Noomadic Solutions Announce Launch of Mobile Banking Services for Microfinance: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapitalorg-story-mongolia%E2%80%99s-xacbank-and-horus-noomadic-solutions-announce-launch-of-mobile-banking-services-for-microfinance/
[13] MICROCAPITAL STORY: Another GrameenPhone? Telenor Pakistan, a Subsidiary of Telenor, the Majority Owner of GrameenPhone, Acquires 51% Stake in Tameer Microfinance Bank Limited for $12.5m: https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-story-another-grameenphone-telenor-pakistan-a-subsidiary-of-telenor-the-majority-owner-of-grameenphone-acquires-51-stake-in-tameer-microfinance-bank-limited-for-125m/
[14] Tameer on the MIX Market: http://www.mixmarket.org/mfi/tmfb/data

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