European financial services group, Societe Generale has launched a mobile money solution for Africa called YUP.
According to a statement from the company, the solution aims to provide a full range of transactional and financial services to the banked and unbanked, offering a new alternative to the traditional banking model in Africa.
The solution was already launched in Ivory Coast and Senegal, with plans to release in Ghana and in Cameroon by the end of 2017, and in Burkina Faso, Togo and Guinea in 2018.
Societe Generale says YUP already has more than 30 000 open wallets and nearly 600 agents. The company aims to open one million wallets in the next three years, to double its individual customer base in sub-Saharan Africa and create a network of 8000 agents to serve users.
"Africa is inventing the future of banking. The project's key ambition is to be a part of this revolution by offering a simple transactional tool that's accessible to all residents of the countries in which Societe Generale does business, be they individuals or corporations, Group customers, account holders with our competitors, or customers without bank accounts," says Alexandre Maymat, the company's head of the Africa/Mediterranean Basin & Overseas region.
According to Maymat, customers without bank accounts make up to 80%-90% of the population depending on the country," and it's a major financial inclusion challenge in which the Group wants to take part through YUP," he adds.
The company says the service is based on an Agency Banking model, a network of third-party agents with whom the bank has formed partnerships (service stations, distribution trade, etc.).
YUP is accessible via a network of distributors equipped with adapted terminals and via the company's mobile banking app.
Customers can withdraw, deposit, and transfer money pay bills, buy phone credit, and make payments to merchants.
The solution also digitises corporates' payment flows. "Soon, financial services like payday advances, credit, savings products, and international transfers will be added," the company adds.
Source...
According to a statement from the company, the solution aims to provide a full range of transactional and financial services to the banked and unbanked, offering a new alternative to the traditional banking model in Africa.
The solution was already launched in Ivory Coast and Senegal, with plans to release in Ghana and in Cameroon by the end of 2017, and in Burkina Faso, Togo and Guinea in 2018.
Societe Generale says YUP already has more than 30 000 open wallets and nearly 600 agents. The company aims to open one million wallets in the next three years, to double its individual customer base in sub-Saharan Africa and create a network of 8000 agents to serve users.
"Africa is inventing the future of banking. The project's key ambition is to be a part of this revolution by offering a simple transactional tool that's accessible to all residents of the countries in which Societe Generale does business, be they individuals or corporations, Group customers, account holders with our competitors, or customers without bank accounts," says Alexandre Maymat, the company's head of the Africa/Mediterranean Basin & Overseas region.
According to Maymat, customers without bank accounts make up to 80%-90% of the population depending on the country," and it's a major financial inclusion challenge in which the Group wants to take part through YUP," he adds.
The company says the service is based on an Agency Banking model, a network of third-party agents with whom the bank has formed partnerships (service stations, distribution trade, etc.).
YUP is accessible via a network of distributors equipped with adapted terminals and via the company's mobile banking app.
Customers can withdraw, deposit, and transfer money pay bills, buy phone credit, and make payments to merchants.
The solution also digitises corporates' payment flows. "Soon, financial services like payday advances, credit, savings products, and international transfers will be added," the company adds.
Source...