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Masabi, Mi-Pay Develop Street Vendor
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The Street Vendor system delivers money transfer services to remote regions using existing phones, without any investment in infrastructure or hardware.
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Friday, July 31, 2009:
Masabi, a developer of secure applications for mass market mobile phones, has collaborated with Mi-Pay, a mobile payments provider, to develop 'Street Vendor' -- a mobile transaction system that allows mobile operators, banks and other retailers providers to offer their services in remote regions without additional investment in infrastructure or hardware, using the existing installed mobile phone base.
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The system can be rolled out internationally to any territory that has SMS reception. This reduces the time-to-market and economics of delivering micro and macro financial services to cities and rural areas. It can also be launched in response to natural disasters or business needs in any area that local agents, SMS and banking regulations allow.
The Street Vendor mobile application enables a distributed workforce to take cash payments in return for mobile top-ups or money transfer services using standard mobile handsets. The mobile handset acts as an Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) terminal and communicates with a central server to authenticate and approve the transaction over encrypted SMS in areas where other data connections are unavailable.
The application is compatible with many standard handsets, up to seven years old, and doesn't rely on smartphones or 3G and GPRS connectivity which are not always available in rural areas. It uses Masabi's EncryptME system to ensure transactions are secure all the way from the phone to the bank, regardless of the mobile network used.
"Most developing nations have vast regions with limited communications infrastructure and accessibility. In these regions, where credit cards are not yet common, this system will allow mobile operators and retail providers to create innovative new sales channels for in-demand services. A 'Street Vendor' with even old handsets can now offer international transaction and retail services to local consumers, without the need for vast technological infrastructure," said Ben Whitaker, chief operating officer, Masabi.
"This solution effective eliminates many of the traditional cost and logistical barriers to mass roll-out of mobile financial services," comments Norman Frankel, chief executive officer, Mi-Pay. "The 'Street Vendor' system could dramatically affect developing markets by enabling retail providers to create distributed sales forces in previously untouchable regions. Masabi's skills in delivering highly secure, graphically rich applications on low-cost everyday mobile handsets made them an obvious partner."
Meeting all Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations, Street Vendor complies with international anti-fraud and money laundering guidelines. Future versions of the system will support utility payments, direct debit setup and micro loans as well as allowing end-users to install the service on their own handset and authorise payments through participating banks.
The application includes a graphical interface which includes Arabic support. Street Vendor is now live in Sudan with other roll-outs planned across the Middle East and North Africa.
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