Orange Money Live

Tested earlier this year*, Orange Money is officially launched in Ivory Coast.

French giants Orange (Orange CI) and BNP Paribas (BICICI) found the perfect spot to try the concept without meeting much resistance from regulators / rival lobbies. Beyond the country and the region**, the aim of the game is naturally to advertise on a potentially global platform.

Opening a Orange Money account enables the Orange customer to make secured transactions with the operator (buying call credit, paying bills) and far beyond (deposits and withdrawals up to 150 euros, transfers from one person to another).

A killer app if any for emerging markets where very few people have a bank account, but more and more use a mobile. Significantly, BelkoFinance (microcredit) is also a partner, and this commercial launch happens the same week as the full launch of Payez Mobile*** in France.


* see "Orange Money: a new service tested in Ivory Coast" (france telecom) and "Orange, in partnership with BNP Paribas, is launching Orange Money in the Ivory Coast, the first mobile phone-based payment and money transfer service in Western Africa" (20081204 BNP Paribas)
** Jordan, Mali and Senegal were announced for 2009 last may in an interview on STMR. The USSD based solution was officially approved by the BCEAO (Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest) which operates in Ivory Coast, but also Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
*** see "Payez mobile, at last"