Botswana Orange Money Customers Gain Visa Mobile Payments (Aug. 8, 2013)
Aug. 8, 2013
Visa Inc. this week announced the deployment in Botswana of Visa Mobile Prepaid, its product designed to convert closed-loop mobile payment ventures in emerging nations to open-loop capabilities. Through Visa’s partnership with mobile network operator Orange, Botswana’s Orange Money subscribers now may withdraw funds at ATMs and make POS or online purchases, enhancing existing mobile payment services that include P2P transfers, bill payment and mobile top-ups. To use the service, which targets unbanked and underbanked consumers, Orange subscribers with an Orange Money account may sign up for a prepaid Visa card, which is automatically linked to their existing account and secured with a PIN. New customers need a valid ID or passport to register for an Orange Money account. Botswana’s BancABC provides local banking support for the venture.
Botswana is the first in a series of countries where Visa is collaborating with Orange and other partners on similar efforts to convert closed-loop mobile payment systems to open-loop payments. Leveraging technology gained from its 2011 acquisition of Fundamo, Visa eventually plans to deploy Visa Mobile Prepaid to add open-loop payments to several other closed-loop mobile payment operations in Africa and Asia, Hannes Van Rensburg, Visa’s head of digital solutions for emerging markets, tells Paybefore.
