KAMPALA: Uganda's Warid Telecom and Obopay announced a new agreement that will see the telecommunications operator launch a mobile banking and payment service called Warid Pesa. The initiative has analysts tipping Warid as the new top provider of mobile money in the country. “The Obopay and Warid deal could be a game changer,” Harun Jumbani, an communications ministry analyst told Bikyamasr.com. “This could really propel the company toward really taking a lion's share of the market in the very near future.” According to a statement from both companies, Warid Pesa “provides a prepaid account that enables customers to perform e-money transactions, pay for goods and services as well as settle accounts.” The system is based on Obopay's already existent mobile money services globally. The company has millions of users across the world and represents some of the largest mobile operators. “Obopay's platform enables a range of use cases that drive incremental transactions and revenue providing a bridge between new and existing payment technologies,” the statement continued. “The service enables new channels of distribution for offering financial services that are useful in areas with income disparity. It can be used on any device – even on inexpensive prepaid mobile phones – and the graphic interface has been given a simple design so that anyone can access it easily.” The new services with Warid, the telecom operator said, should be accessible via all operations the company offers. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/zSBAh Tags: Obopay, Telecom, Uganda, Warid Section: East Africa, Tech
