Orange and pan-African banking group Ecobank have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly enhance mobile financial services and to increase access to banking services across Africa. The agreement will enable Orange Money subscribers who also have bank accounts with Ecobank to transfer money between their respective accounts. In addition, it will facilitate money transfers for both Ecobank and Orange customers by offering them the possibility of topping up their Orange Money e-wallet from their bank account, and vice versa.
According to Orange, the service has already been launched in Mali and will be rolled-out in several other African countries, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry, Niger, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the first half of 2015. In sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 24 percent of the population has a bank account and over 60 percent have a mobile phone, Orange Money aims to offer easy-to-use mobile financial services that allow transactions to be made remotely and securely, avoiding the need to carry money around. The mobile financial service will enable users to transfer money from their mobile phones to any other customer in the country and internationally and to pay their water, electricity and television bills and top up their telephone airtime remotely. Ecobank customers can also view their bank account balance and obtain mini-statements by SMS via the service.
Orange added that that it has more than 12 million customers and 4.5 billion euros exchanged in 13 countries in 2014.
Laurent Paillassot, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Orange in charge of Customer Experience and Mobile Banking
This partnership between Orange and Ecobank will further enrich customer experience. By facilitating exchanges between Ecobank and Orange Money accounts, our customers will be able to conduct financial transactions quickly and in complete security, bringing them the best of both worlds. We want to offer this service wherever it makes sense.
Patrick Akinwuntan, Ecobank’s Group Executive in charge of Domestic Banking
This roll-out further demonstrates Ecobank’s commitment to make branchless banking a reality by activating multiple service channels in every country in which we operate. Our unique pan-African footprint also enables us to be at the forefront of efforts to develop the market for cross-border mobile financial services in Africa.
