BANKING ON THE MOVE.

(From Financial Mail)

Byline: Paul Furber

BANKING ON THE MOVE by Mobile banking is on the verge of an explosion across Africa triggered by pent-up demand among the unbanked for easy access to banking transaction services. Fundamo, the mobile banking innovator, is becoming the de facto engine driving much of this growth. Cape Town-based Fundamo has licensed its software to global banks and mobile operators for the past four years, securing mobile banking deals across Africa and attracting the interest of large First-World markets. The software powers a variety of applications, including person-to-person payments; payments in retail environments; purchasing of airtime; and business-to-business applications such as mobile payments for the delivery of goods such as beer and cement in Africa. And of the millions of transactions made using Fundamo's technology, values range from as little as R5 to as much as R500000.

Large customers include Celpay, owned by FirstRand, which is a financial services company operating in both Zambia and the DRC. The company provides mobile banking and payment solutions for banks looking to offer access to financial transaction services to their …