After launching a similar service in Mali and Cameroun in January and August 2015 respectively, Ecobank and Orange have extended the partnership to their customers in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Niger to further deepend financial inclusion in Africa.
Thierry Millet, Director of Orange Money, Mobile Payment and Contactless said, “This easy-to-use system meets the demands of customers who already have a bank account and who want to use their mobile phones to carry out both bank and mobile money operations, wherever they are in the country and at whatever time of day.”
The bank to mobile wallet launch has seen close to 110 million euros transferred between Ecobank and Orange Money accounts. Ecobank which had earlier positioned itself as corporate bank is moving to serve the customers who want to day to day financial services, hence the need for such partnerships.
Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive, Consumer Banking at Ecobank Group said: “We have seen remarkable success in the volume of bank transfers since the beginning of a successful partnership between Ecobank and Orange and we are confident that this service will also have a great success the new countries that are embarking on this service. It is a platform which highlights the importance of on-line banking and mobile today and to our commitment in bringing convenient banking services to everyone in central Africa.”
Launched in the Côte d’Ivoire in December 2008, Orange Money is currently available in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East. With close to 8 billion euros exchanged over the course of 2015 and over 16 million customers, Orange Money continues its rapid growth.
Orange Money is a service that enables customers to transfer money from their mobile phone to other account-holders across the country and, from certain countries, to users based abroad. Depending on the country, they can also use the service to remotely pay electricity, water or television bills, buy air time for their mobile, or benefit from savings or insurance services.