Orange Money, the mobile payment service of the Orange Group, an integrated telecommunications solutions provider, has reached the threshold of 4 million customers in Africa and the Middle East, celebrating lately its commercial launch in Jordan and Mauritius, the company announced here Monday.
It said that “These two additional countries mean that the service is now available in 10 countries across the region,” disclosing that Orange Money was first launched in Côte d’Ivoire in December 2008 and has since been made available in Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger and Senegal.
It said that over the past few weeks, the service has also been launched in Jordan and Mauritius, in line with the goal to launch the service in all 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the Group operates.
In only 18 months, Orange Money has quadrupled its customer base, which now covers 14% of all Orange customers in the 10 countries.
The company said that in Madagascar, over a third of all customers have opened an Orange Money account, while in Côte d’Ivoire daily transactions now exceed one billion CFA francs.
Orange said “This exponential growth attests to the strong consumer appetite for this innovative, simple and practical mobile payment service in countries where the population has limited access to bank accounts but is widely equipped with mobile phones.”
It said that access to Orange Money is very easy as mobile phone customers may open an Orange Money account for free whether or not they have a bank account.
The project allows customers to carry out simple banking operations and transactions in total security.
The three key services include: “money transfers, where users can send money using their phone to any Orange Money customer in the country; financial services, including solutions facilitating savings and insurance (according to the country); and payments, giving users an easier way to pay their bills, as well as providing a simple way to buy mobile phone credit.
It said that the two last categories of service were growing quickly. Thanks to partnerships with local service providers, Orange Money customers can pay some of their bills with their mobile phone, enabling customers to benefit from the comfort and flexibility of a remote payment system and in many cases allows them to avoid a long and difficult journey.
For example, Orange Money customers already pay their electricity bills in Senegal or their water bills in Jordan.
In addition to payment, Orange Money also provides customers who do not have a bank account with a way to save money. In Madagascar, for example, customers can now sign-up to a life insurance scheme.
Commenting on the development of Orange Money, Marc Rennard, Orange’s Executive Director for AMEA operations, stated that: “Orange Money plays an important role in driving growth in activities in emerging markets, allowing customers to contribute to the economic and social development of their countries.
