AfricaCom 2013 provided visitors to the continent’s largest telecoms conference with deep insight into the rapid growth of data penetration and mobile services across Africa, with much of the focus on the subject of Mobile Money and related products.
Clickatell, a global leader in mobile messaging and transaction services, hosted a master class on their VAS (Value Added Services) offerings that are making major inroads in Africa with products such as PIN-less Airtime.
This year alone, five of the top 10 banks in Nigeria have chosen Clickatell for their PIN-less airtime distribution.
“GT Bank, First Bank, Ecobank, Sterling Bank, and UBA are all switching their airtime strategies to a PIN-less future and have harnessed Clickatell’s technology, expertise and in-depth understanding of the African
landscape to tap into the revenue potential of value added services (PIN-less Prepaid Airtime),” says Samson Isa, Clickatell director of West Africa.
GT Bank, who sell PIN-less airtime via their mobile app, has already been responsible for the fastest growing PIN-less sales in Nigeria.
PIN-less Airtime enables real time top up of pre-paid mobile airtime at the point of sale without the need for PINs or printed vouchers.
The benefits to end-users and resellers are numerous, including:
* No stock / inventory issues associated with prepaid cards;
* No risk of losing the pin or prepaid card;
* Opportunity for new distribution channels;
* Reduced risk of fraud;
* Incidents of theft eliminated;
* No restrictive monetary denominations;
* Increased access and convenience for the end consumer; and
* The ability to top-up any mobile number, not just your own.
With five out of the top 10 banks in Nigeria as clients, it’s predicted that Clickatell will continue to strengthen their position as a leading mobile enablement provider in Nigeria and be the largest PIN-less airtime provider by the end of the fiscal year.
