Egyptian Government and MasterCard sign Memorandum of Understanding to Drive Financial

The Government of Egypt, represented by The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and MasterCard today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a strategic collaboration that will help drive financial inclusion and maximize government efficiency. The MoU was signed by H.E. Atef Helmy, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, and Ajay Banga, Chief Executive Officer at MasterCard, in the presence of H.E. Ibrahim Mahlab, Prime Minister of Egypt, and Richard Haythornthwaite, Chairman of MasterCard’s Board of Directors.

The partnership will see MasterCard bring latest payment technology innovations to market. In addition, the company will leverage its global experience working with governments across the world, to help the Egyptian government increase engagement with citizens.

                             

H.E. Atef Helmy, Minister of Communications and Information Technology said: “Under the leadership of H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt has been undergoing a period of positive change. The President and Government of Egypt believe that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in supporting this change and in helping us better serve our citizens. This collaboration with MasterCard will help the Government bring innovative new solutions to the Egyptian population.”

According to the Minister, knowledge transfer will play an important role in the partnership and MasterCard’s expertise will be leveraged to boost innovation efforts and enhance citizen engagement. A number of innovative programs will be implemented in the near future to help achieve these goals.

Ajay Banga, Chief Executive Officer, MasterCard said: “This partnership highlights our commitment to Egypt and its people. It is crucial for us to join forces with governments around the world to accelerate positive change for citizens. We have a long and rich history in Egypt, and we are excited about the opportunity to provide more Egyptians with access to financial services.”

As part of the agreement, MasterCard will also be working alongside Egypt Post to fully digitalize its customer base, and enable its 4000 branches to offer electronic value-added-services, employee trainings and expert driven workshops. This will help Egypt Post transition towards cashless payment solutions through the use of mobile phones and credit cards, ultimately improving its services and enhancing convenience.

African Development Bank and MasterCard collaboration to drive inclusive growth across the continent

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and MasterCard announced a broad collaboration that aims to expand financial inclusion across the African continent. The collaboration seeks to develop solutions that drive inclusive growth in Africa by broadening access and usage of digital financial services.

Ajay Banga, President and CEO at MasterCard, said: “Less than one adult out of four in Africa has access to an account at a formal financial institution. While many of our industry partners have been active in this space, we believe that through our payments expertise, and the AfDB’s 50 years of experience in financing Africa’s economic transformation, we can achieve scaled impact and lasting transformation. This can only be accomplished when the public and private sectors combine resources and act together.”

AIRTEL MONEY OFFERS KRA MOBILE TAX PAYMENT SERVICES

Bharti Airtel has partnered with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to offer Kenyan citizens an opportunity to pay their taxes through Airtel Money.  Through the partnership, Airtel will now allow customers across the country to inquire for KRA services, generate KRA payment reference number (PRN or an e-slip/invoice number) and make quick simple payments through Airtel Money by simply dialing  the short code *572#.    

The revolutionary service provides Airtel Money customers in Kenya a convenient, flexible and time saving option for tax payment as they will no longer have to walk into KRA banking halls to queue to pay their taxes. Taxpayers who pay taxes using Airtel Money are assured that their payments will be cleared, processed and credited to the KRA account in real-time.

Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said that the new partnership will usher in unparalleled customer convenience, stressing that the move is aimed at increasing Airtel Money customer satisfaction and convenience. “Airtel will continue to partner with corporate and government entities as it seeks to revolutionize its services and more importantly provide customers with convenient, fast and secure options of transacting on Airtel Money,” said Mr. El Youssefi.        

To make payments using Airtel Money, simply dial *572# and select option 2 for payments, enter your PRN (e-slip number) any your secret Airtel Money PIN to complete the payment. An SMS notification will be sent from both Airtel Money and KRA to confirm successful payment.  KRA business systems are updated in real-time as soon as the taxpayer receives the confirmation messages. KRA services can be paid through Airtel Money for amount of up to Kshs140, 000 per day. The charges to the customers are very minimal and vary from Ksh. 10 to Ksh. 270 based on amounts being paid.

Airtel Money is a secure and convenient mobile commerce service that allows customers to transfer money between one mobile phone to the other across all networks, top up mobile phone with airtime/data or another customer’s mobile phone. It also allows customers to pay utility bills as well as buy goods and services and withdraw cash at selected Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).

 

BRITAM LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS IT PROJECT AIMED AT TRANSFORMING AND STREAMLINING BUSINESS PROCESSES

Britam has unveiled a cutting edge IT system aimed at streamlining its business operations.

“Jawabu”, as the project is known, is an ambitious IT enabled business transformation project designed to deliver the technology capabilities required to deliver the best customer experience.  

It is part of the diversified financial services group quest to achieve its strategy for regional and local expansion through IT Business transformation, and to also respond to the growing requirements of its cus

tomers.  

Jawabu will automate key business processes, reducing time consuming manual tasks and paperwork, increasing efficiency and enhance controls. The new system will provide a single view of the customer, as well as customer intelligence which will allow financial advisors to focus on analysis as opposed to data crunching and eliminate decisions made through “gut feelings” which are not based on tangible facts.

The system will also allow sales people to target their sales efforts and deepen relationships with clients, allow customers to easily access information, and make it easier for them to compute claims.

“Jawabu will transform Britam by delivering world class business processes and State-of-the-art IT systems. It will move the company from being a product centred organisation into a customer centric organization, providing customers with first class service,” said Britam Group Managing Director Dr Benson Wairegi.

Developed in partnership with Oracle, IBM, Fadata, and PwC, among others, the project will be implemented and deployed in three phases. The current phase kicked off in July 2014 and will run until May 2015.

WORKSHOP ON INFLAMMATORY SKIN AND JOINT DISEASES

Omondi Oyoo a Rheumatologist at the University of Nairobi (left) , Pfizer Laboratories GIP BU Director Nigeria and East Africa Jonathan Brand (centre) and Professor Femi Adelowo of Lagos State University share a light moment during a workshop on inflammatory skin and joint diseases (Psoriasis and Rheumatoid Arthritis) held recently in Nairobi.