French telecommunications giant Orange has teamed up with Visa to enable its Orange Money customers in Africa and the Middle East access to a Visa prepaid account
Developing countries in Africa and the Middle East are among the first target markets for Orange and Visa as they work to deploy crossover prepaid products and services, and attempt to drive economic growth and financial inclusion across the region by migrating cash spend to electronic payments.
“We already provide secure and convenient payment capability to 3.5 million unbanked or financially underserved African citizens,” said Orange executive director for marketing and innovation Jean-Paul Cottet.
“By combining the convenience of Orange Money with the reach of Visa’s global payment network, we can offer new payment capability to Orange Money customers in their home country and abroad.”
In cooperation with local bank partners, Orange first introduced the service in 2008, which is currently available in eight countries across Africa and the Middle East.
The company plans to introduce Visa payment capability to Orange Money subscribers in select markets by the end of 2012.
Visa Inc president John Partridge remarked: “Mobile technology has become one of the most important enablers of financial inclusion and its ubiquity is allowing mobile network operators, financial institutions, and Visa to connect financially under-served consumers to each other and the global economy.
“The convergence of mobile and financial services networks helps to remove service barriers, accelerates the pace of change and is transforming the lives of consumers in developing countries.”
