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SMART Communications Inc. on Tuesday said it has
partnered with a United Arab Emirates-based telecom operator to
develop and launch an international money transfer service through
mobile phones.
In a statement, Smart said the
partnership was sealed at the GITEX Technology Week, an
international technology trade exhibition held in Dubai.
“Through our mobile commerce
platform, Etisalat will be able to offer SIM-based services that
allow mobile- phone users to send money to their beneficiaries via a
few simple clicks on their handsets. The service will be affordable,
convenient and safe. It will also give mobile-phone users greater
power to remit money, whenever they wish, wherever they are, and in
whatever amounts,” Danilo J. Mojica, head of Smart’s wireless
consumer division, said.
Smart will be the technology
enabler of the Etisalat service. Etisalat will utilize the
Philippine telco’s mobile commerce platform, the Smart Services
Hub, a global financial and telecommunications services model based
on the Smart Money electronic financial services platform.
Through this platform, telcos and
banks can offer mobile phone-based remittances. As an additional
security feature, senders will be able to track transactions until
the funds reach the designated recipients.
The remittance service will be
initially offered in the UAE and will later be rolled out to other
Etisalat service areas such as Egypt , Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and to Etisalat’s West African subsidiaries under the
Atlantique Group.
Essa Al Haddad, chief marketing
officer of Etisalat said, “Migrant remittance is an important
source of income for many countries around the world. We are
confident that the service will revolutionize the entire remittance
process for expatriates.”
--Darwin G. Amojelar
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