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MasterCard, Comviva and Tutuka announce strategic collaborationNov 30, 2012 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- MasterCard Incorporated., a global payments and technology company, Comviva Technologies Ltd, a provider of mobile financial and VAS solutions, and Tutuka, a provider of software platforms, have announced a strategic collaboration that combines Comviva's mobiquity mobile payment platform, Tutuka's prepaid processing platform and MasterCard's global electronic payments network to further extend financial inclusion to consumers across Africa. The collaboration will enable Operators providing mobile money services using Comviva's mobiquity platform to offer their customers prepaid MasterCard cards or Virtual Card Numbers (VCN) linked to their existing stored value accounts. These will enable customers to purchase goods and services at physical and online retailers worldwide where MasterCard is accepted, as well as transfer funds and pay bills, the company said. At present stored value accounts, managed primarily by mobile network operators offer services only to users within the operators network such as mobile top-up, bill payments, merchant payments, cash withdrawal and P2P payments, the company added. Srinivas Nidugondi, vice president, Mobile Financial Solutions, Comviva, said: "Comviva has established its leadership in empowering mobile money across geographies. By partnering with Tutuka, we can now bring the full benefits of the MasterCard Mobile Money Partnership Program that we joined in February to consumers across Africa. Together, we are now able to bring open loop solutions faster to market, like empowering consumers to utilise their existing stored value account at any of the 33 million locations worldwide that accepts MasterCard, thereby dramatically improving the Mobile Money value proposition." According to the collaboration, the new solution offered by this collaboration will be available to both Comviva's existing and new mobile money implementations across Africa, with the potential to benefit over 750 million consumers across the continent. These consumers simply need to engage with their specific Operator, who will register and link their mobile number against a unique MasterCard Prepaid card which will be issued to the consumer. The Operator will also conduct any further steps as is mandated by each market's financial regulator. Mung Ki Woo, Group Executive, Mobile, MasterCard Worldwide, said: "The ubiquity of mobile and interoperability are the keys to the penetration of electronic payments in Africa. This solution leverages our biggest asset, the MasterCard Worldwide network, to bring ubiquitous acceptance to mobile wallet consumers across Africa in an efficient and cost effective manner." Rowan Brewer, CEO, Tutuka, said:"Tutuka and MasterCard have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship spanning 15 years. This relationship has allowed us to develop African relevant solutions that respond to ever evolving consumer needs, extending the benefits of electronic payments to consumers who would otherwise not be able to benefit from their convenience, ease of use and security." Michael Miebach, president, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide, said: "MasterCard is continually looking at ways that it can help financially-underserved consumers worldwide gain access to formal financial services,". "This collaboration with Tutuka and Comviva perfectly illustrates the enormous potential for mobile money solutions to drive financial inclusion across Africa, and continues MasterCard's approach of providing consumers more ways of paying safely, securely and simply." http://www.datamonitor.com Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon |