Ericsson moves into mobile financial services



billing-money

Ericsson Aims To Create A Global Ecosystem That Make Sending Money Person To Person As Simple As Sending An Sms

Swedish vendor Ericsson has announced its entry into the mobile financial services market, with the launch of Ericsson Money Services. Aiming to address demand for mobile financial services in both developed and developing markets, the firm said that it is “set to create a global ecosystem that make sending money person to person as simple as sending an SMS.”

Informa Telecoms & Media has forecast that revenues from mobile banking and payment services will grow from $831m worldwide at the end of last year to $5.4bn by the end of 2013. By this time, Informa predicts, there will be more than 3.2 billion users of mobile financial services worldwide.

Ericsson said that its new offering had been in development for two years, in Europe and Asia. The firm said it has developed “an end to end solution and associated business and operational model, fulfilling all necessary regulatory, legal and security requirements,” for the sector. The initiative is designed to offer cross-border, cross-currency financial transfer services, with mobile operators, financial institutions and other service providers identified as target customers.

“A new market is opening up consisting of consumers whose first meeting with banks will take place over a mobile phone and who may never own a plastic credit card. People who may never enter a bricks-and-mortar bank now have the opportunity to “walk” into a virtual bank using their phone. They will also benefit from more reasonable fees for routine transactions such as transferring funds”, said Semir Mahjoub, head of Ericsson Money Services.