Masabi has collaborated with Mi-Pay to develop Street Vendor, a mobile transaction system. The system allows mobile operators, banks and other retailers to offer their services in remote regions without additional investment in infrastructure or hardware, using the existing installed mobile phone base.
Masabi has said that unlike mobile operator led mobile payment services, which require new SIM cards to be issued and integrated with local network infrastructure, the Street-Vendor system can be rolled out internationally to any territory that has SMS reception. This is expected to reduce 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.
It has added that 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.
Ben Whitaker, COO of Masabi, said: 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.
Masabi is a UK-based mobile applications developer for mass market mobile phones that address the m-commerce, financial services, transport and event ticketing markets.
UK-based Mi-Pay provides service offerings that span pre-pay topups, mobile initiated payments, mobile banking, mobile money transfer, handset-based authentication and consultancy services.
