Mobile money provider Mi-Pay is increasing its strategic partnerships with operators and MVNOs in key remittance corridors in order to support an anticipated rise in demand for international airtime top-ups and transfers in 2010.
p>Mobile money provider Mi-Pay is increasing its strategic partnerships with operators and MVNOs in key remittance corridors in order to support an anticipated rise in demand for international airtime top-ups and transfers in 2010.
The company sees easy access to pre-pay airtime - for family and friends abroad - as crucial in driving new revenue streams and boosting customer loyalty for operators targeting multi-cultural traditionally Western ‘sending’ countries or developing ‘recipient’ countries.
With operator partners already in place to support its International Airtime Top-up services in Europe, Africa, India and Latin America, Mi-Pay has secured major new agreements that will potentially double its reach in a matter of months. By the end of 2010, it anticipates that its ‘sending and receiving’ channels will cover 65 per cent of the global population.
Mi-Pay’s International Airtime Top-up is a white labelled and highly "sticky" service that will appeal to those operators looking for a quick-to-market, risk-free way of enabling consumers to top-up their own phones internationally; or those of family and friends overseas, remotely.
Providing new marketing and revenue opportunities, it can help to reduce churn, drive ARPU and boost international brand recognition in both core and expanding markets. It also provides operators and MVNOs with direct access to the rapidly growing and profitable airtime transfer market that exists within the world’s key remittance corridors. Norman Frankel CEO of Mi-Pay comments, "New figures from World Bank show that, despite global recession, in 2009 the international remittance market to developing countries is set to come in at around $317bn dollars. This reflects the huge desire for individuals to continue to aid family and friends living abroad even in the face of current financial pressures.
“We believe that informal remittance channels such as International Airtime Top-up - where users can buy mobile phone airtime for contacts living in another country - may well help to boost remittance values to regions where mobile phone access is vital. By offering the ability to provide regular low value financial assistance – it creates new opportunities for those wishing to send support to their loved ones abroad and innovative new campaign and marketing platforms for the operators involved."
