14 February 2006
Macalla enables Mpay mobile top-up and payment services in the Middle East
Dublin, Ireland; Macalla, Europe’s leader and innovator in mobile technology, today announced it has supplied its Macalla Platform software and related services to enable mobile phone re-charge and payment services in the Middle East. Branded Mpay, these services are provided by a leading Kuwaiti Company, Al Bahar Telecom and are scheduled for regional availability following deployment in Kuwait.
The initial Mpay service allows prepaid subscribers on the MTC Kuwait network to directly re-charge their mobile phones, and those of others (e.g. parent-to-child, employer-to-employee), conveniently anytime, anywhere without having to travel to a retail outlet or hand over cash and to pay for these top-up transactions via their nominated bank facility. Top-up call credit is applied automatically within seconds. The service leverages commercial agreements between Al Bahar United, MTC, Axalto and the shared electronic banking services company (Knet) through which all Kuwaiti banks participate. Supported channels are SMS, JavaCard and web with services available in Arabic and English.
The service removes the high costs inherent with voucher/scratch card based top-up channels, eliminates the service provider’s need to collect cash and provides subscribers with a highly convenient and secure alternative. It also provides a robust and proven platform upon which other top-up and mobile payments services will be delivered in Kuwait and across the region. For example; transfer of call credit from one prepaid account to another, enabling prepaid top-ups via an extended network of mobile agents using their mobiles as the POS device, delivering bill payment, ticketing, loan dispersal, fund remittance and other services.
Mohamed Amira, Managing Director, Al Bahar, says: “Central to our Macalla decision was their clear understanding of our business needs, their track record of delivering innovative mobile solutions globally and their pedigree in banking and payments as well as mobile operations”. He added, “Macalla’s reputation and experience in the area is second to none. This, plus Al Bahar’s reputation for excellence and the MTC and Knet relationships, provides us with an extremely strong platform for delivering many mobile payment services.”
“The Macalla Platform provides a robust and proven platform for Al Bahar Telecom to deploy mobile phone re-charge and payment services seamlessly across Kuwait and other regions within the Middle East.” Says Niall O’Cleirigh, Chief Executive Officer, Macalla. “Our solution provides the essential infrastructure to eliminate the need to collect cash and provides subscribers and mobile agents with a quick, convenient and secure mobile service for recharging their call credit direct from their mobile phone.”
About Macalla
Macalla headquartered in Ireland is an acknowledged leader and innovator in mobile technology and embodies a wealth of experience through its work since 1998 with leading mobile operators, retail banks, intermediaries, service providers and enterprises globally.
www.macalla.com
About Al Bahar
Al Bahar Telecom is a Kuwaiti company. It was formed in 2003, supported by experts in the field of Information Technology and Telecommunication. In recent years the growths in prepaid customers phenomenal in GSM, Al Bahar Telecom recognised this growth and the need to provide intelligent and secure mobile payment solutions.
About Mpay
Mpay is a subsidiary of Al Bahar Telecom, a leading telecommunication company that is a significant stakeholder in IT and Telecommunications products and services companies in Kuwait and Middle East.
Mpay is a mobile payment system enabling a mobile phone to become a payment instrument on its own. Money has turned the new chapter of financial transaction industry by Al Bahar Telecom; introducing the service Mpay combining wireless innovation with spending pattern of people all around the globe, delivering quality to every step of life with convenience, variety, security and verifiability. In cooperation with MTC the leading GSM operator and Knet the Kuwaiti banking switch, the services are available to serve MTC customers from today. www.mpay.com.kw
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