m-Payment: Global Launch of SMS Money Transfer Service
Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:00
Two Irish companies have teamed up to offer a straight forward way to transfer money using SMS that an be
used by operators worldwide.
Anam Mobile and TR2 Communications have launched a service that will allow operators to offer global
money transfers via SMS.
Using an application called #CASH - developed and owned by TR2 Communications, it can be used globally
for international funds transfer and local P2P payments. The service is easy-to-use for consumers, following
a simple three-step procedure.
To send money a user writes an SMS that begins "#cash" followed by the amount to send, then selects the
person they want to send it to from their address book. Anam’s Smart Services platform then diverts the
message to the #Cash Application Server for processing.
The person sending the money is then sent a text message with information to call an IVR which reads out
the transaction who then confirms the transaction is correct by entering their PIN.
The money is transferred once pin-checked and once complete a text message confirmation is received.
The recipient of the transfer receives a text message to tell them they have been transferred money.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Boston, London and Malaysia, Gerry McKenna, CEO of
Anam said, "The beauty of this service is that it does not demand consumers to alter their behaviour; it just
adds another function to what they can do with SMS. Money transfer is an application that we believe will
have a huge take-up. Whether it is used to repay money lent by a friend, or to send money to relatives
internationally, by using SMS it becomes an easy to use, intuitive service."
Jote Bassi, Anam Marketing Director said that the initial focus for the service would be to operators that
have operations in countries that both attract and are home to migrant workers.
Bassi said that one of the keys to sucess was simplicity. Other money transfer services in operation such as
PayPal were more complicated to use he claimed.
Operators are continually promised novel data services that will create a new revenue streams. However,
these services usually mean a complete shift in consumer mobile behaviour resulting in a slow uptake, or no
uptake at all.
An SMS Money Transfer system in Kenya called mPesa supported by Vodafone has been very successful.
The money transfer service is available immediately for all global operators and Anam is offering a full
consultative approach to assist roll-out of the service to subscribers.
For more information please contact:
Patrick Smith
Sonus PR
anam@sonuspr.com
+44 20 7851 4890
