CBS launches countrywide mobile payment project |13 November 2012

This follows the presentation of the project to the Cabinet of Ministers, mobile network operators and relevant financial institutions. 

A communiqué from the CBS says ProgressSoft will be implementing its nationwide mobile payment solution PS-mPay to provide all citizens, expatriates and tourists in Seychelles with person-to-person (P2P), person-to-business (P2B) and person-to-government (P2G) real-time mobile payments.
 
The solution will also avail direct credit, near field communication (NFC) based point-of-sale (POS) payments, international remittances and bill payments – all to be conducted via the mobile phone.

The main stakeholders in this mobile payment project are the CBS, the Seychelles government, commercial banks, mobile network operators (MNOs) along with ProgressSoft Corporation – as the solution provider.

“The mobile payment initiative is a major milestone for Seychelles and the concept will have huge benefits to the nation as a whole, putting Seychelles at the forefront of technological advancements globally,” said CBS governor Caroline Abel.

“The Central Bank has been developing the national payments system, and mobile payments are the next step towards advancement of such. The benefits to the economy of real-time payment services shall be widespread and the use of mobile payments should result in greater financial inclusion and economic growth,” added Ms Abel.

ProgressSoft chief executive Michael Wakileh said: “This is another milestone in our partnership with the Central Bank of Seychelles, which will assure excellence and pioneering in payments and banking not only in the region but around the globe. While we provide such real-time and state-of-the-art payment services, we hope to add one more reason of pride to the Seychelles’ beautiful islands.”

The communiqué adds that Seychelles stands to enjoy unlimited benefits from mobile payment services. The economy will primarily retain and save all monies going out of the country, money laundering should be reduced as monitoring of micro payments and auditing of all cash transactions are made possible.

While all payments become real-time, the overall economic cycle is expected to get vastly accelerated and hence the gross domestic products of the country will increase. 

With respect to the benefits for the banking sector, the CBS will have more control over all payments, which will be reflected in the reduction of the unnecessary overheads of printing and re-printing money notes.

Meanwhile, PS-mPay will allow for the financial inclusion of the unbanked people in the country, which will furnish a new customer base for banks in Seychelles without requiring any extra operational cost or front-end employment.

As mobile payment and transfer become the norm, dealing with cash shall decrease. This will have a positive impact on banks as they realise reduction in costs relating to cash handling as well as ATM machines investment and maintenance.

Businesses will be able to achieve better returns than the ones they are getting with the current card payments. People will entertain extreme convenience of conducting on-time, precise payment transactions anytime, anywhere.

“It is an honour for ProgressSoft to implement this whole countrywide project; we commit to deliver a world-class service that is up to the expectations of the leadership of Seychelles, the Central Bank of Seychelles, the banking bodies, businesses, citizens, expatriates and tourists,” added Mr Wakileh.

This avant-garde mobile payment project is expected to garner diverse attention from the banking, financial and telecom domains all around the world. The complete view of this project will be featured during a conference on Mobile Money Global 2012 – the world’s largest independent mobile money transfer conference and expo, which will be held at Atlantis Hotel, Dubai on November 20-21, 2012.

The panel will consist of CBS governor Abel, Finance, Trade and Investment Minister Pierre Laporte alongside ProgressSoft chief executive Wakileh – all of whom will convey the unparalleled value and massive advantages of this pioneering experience to the mobile money decision-makers who will attend the conference.