Rwanda’s national payment switch, RSwitch has facilitated the first of its kind e-money interoperability between Mobile Money Operators ahead of the biggest digital innovation summit, Transform Africa 2015.
The new interoperability platform will facilitate and enable e-money transfers between Rwanda’s mobile network operators allowing end customers to receive money directly into their Mobile wallets no matter what mobile network they are subscribed to.
Commenting on the initiative, RSwitch CEO Mr. Daniel Barrientos said, “Integration of payments is a key part of what we stand for as RSwitch. Our infrastructure stands on financial deepening and providing efficiency in the e-payments space in Rwanda, East Africa and beyond.”
He added, “Our mandate is to enable financial inclusion especially at the bottom of the pyramid and seamless e-payments solution which will go a long way in reducing the cost of electronic transactions between operators in the country. So far we are live on connectivity with Tigo and Airtel Rwanda.”
Sharing his remarks, Tigo Rwanda CEO, Mr. Tongai Maramba said, “Getting access to financial services via the mobile phone is a life changing experience for our customers. I am delighted that we have delivered Interoperability with Airtel to give our customers an all-inclusive mobile money experience.”
Rswitch further revealed that they are integrating several Micro finance institutions and SACCOs to deliver full financial inclusion both at the top and bottom of the financial pyramid in Rwanda.
This will be the first of its kind solution bringing together entities into one bigger ecosystem.
Rwanda continues to see growth in e-payments with 105 million mobile money transactions performed last year alone.
Over 7.2 million ATM transactions, 4.6 million mobile banking operations and half a million POS transactions were performed in 2014 alone. Additionally, over 72% Rwandans have access to financial services (bank and SACCO accounts, Mobile Financial Services), which calls for an integrated approach as provided by Rswitch enabling speed to market for participants and affordability.
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