Monitise Regulatory News (MONI)

18 Feb 2009 09:00



18 February 2009

MONITISE AWARDED $1.5 MILLION BY AFRICA ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE FUND TO LAUNCH IN EAST AFRICA

Monitise plc Awarded Funding to Develop its Service across East Africa

Monitise plc (MONI.L) is delighted to announce that it has been awarded US$1.5 million by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) to help fund the launch of its mobile banking and payments service in East Africa.

Monitise East Africa will initially offer services in Uganda and then plans to expand into neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. The service will enable the provision of banking, payment and money transfer services by both banks and mobile networks, within the regulatory framework of each market. It will mean that for the first time citizens in East Africa will have the opportunity to use their mobile phones to save money, make payments, transfer funds, and deposit and withdraw cash through the widest choice of mobile networks, banks and mobile handsets.

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund is designed to fund business enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa in the field of agriculture, agri-business, rural financial services and media and information services that will have a positive impact on the rural poor by delivering increased employment, reduced costs and improved productivity. It is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA). 

Hugh Scott, director, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund said: "By helping enterprises to build successful businesses in Africa, we believe that we can make market systems work better and generate wealth that benefits the entire society. Through the extension of the reach of the banks and allowing people to save, make payments and transfer money to their families, we believe that Monitise East Africa has the potential to transform the economic outlook for literally millions of people. I also firmly believe that in due course many of the people who use the service will, through the empowerment that a savings and payments culture delivers, become business people themselves, creating a truly sustainable economy."

The news coincides with a recent launch by the UK's Department for International Development of a £1.4 million fund to spur the development of biometric and mobile phone-based banking in emerging economies in Asia and Africa. The project entitled Facilitating Access to Financial Services through Technology (FAST) will explore the options for introducing 'branchless banking' in developing countries and look at how technologies such as mobile phone banking can help the poor to access financial services.

International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, said of the launch of FAST: "A lack of access to finance in some parts of the developing world stifles entrepreneurship, stunts development and leaves people trapped in a poor, cash-only society.

"Advancements in technology and growth in mobile phone use is changing how we all live our lives and has the potential to give people access to financial services no matter where they live."

Alastair Lukies, chief executive, Monitise plc said: "Thanks to the support of AECF and DFID, we have an opportunity to transform the lives of millions of people in East Africa through the introduction of our proven service which brings together regulators, banks and mobile operators. 

""There are some fantastic services available in the African market that are already transforming people's lives by allowing them to move money as and when they need to. Our platform, which is trusted by some of the world's leading banks and mobile networks as well as hundreds of thousands of consumers in the UK and North America, will help bridge the divide from payments to banking, by opening up a fuller range of services, such as deposits and savings in a genuinely mass-market, financially inclusive environment."

Enquiries

About AECF

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) aims to encourage private sector companies to compete for investment support for their new and innovative business ideas in agri-business and rural financial services. To qualify for funding, a project should have a positive impact on the rural poor in Africa, delivering increased employment, reduced costs, and improved productivity. The AECF is a competition open only to for-profit-companies. The Fund will run a number of competitions every year for the next 6 years. To apply to the AECF companies should visit the AECF website (www.aecfafrica.org) to view the selection criteria and obtain an initial application form. Since the launch of the AECF in Cape Town on 5 June 2008, three rounds of competition have been held and over 1,000 businesses have submitted applications to the AECF. The Fund Manager of the AECF is KPMG Development Services Limited. 

For more information on the AECF please visit www.aecfafrica.org or contact info@aecfafrica.org

About Monitise plc

Monitise plc (MONI.L), the mobile money people, has created the world's first mobile banking networks, which allow customers of multiple banks and mobile operators to perform banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile handset.

With live services in the UK and the USA, where it has delivered the MONILINK and Monitise networks in partnership with VocaLink and Metavante Corporation respectively, the Company is currently working with international partners to deliver similar safe, secure mobile banking & payment services in territories worldwide.

Current key partners include VocaLink, Metavante, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Hutchison 3G.