Tameer Microfinance Bank and Telenor Pakistan have announced launch of Money Transfer, said a statement issued by Telenor. Money Trasnfer is going to be the second in a suite of products being offered under easypaisa.
We are told that service would be available for all customers, even if they don’t have Telenor connections. Original ID card and photocopies are termed must have things for carrying transaction (either for depositing or withdrawing money). You do not have to own a Telenor connection, nor do you need to have a mobile phone at all. The best thing about the service is that no registration is required!
Depositor will have to select a pin or secret code (which will be known to no one) while same pin would be required on receiving end for withdrawal.
We further learned that Rs. 10,000 can be transferred at most under one CNIC in one month.
Any person with a need to send money from one city to another can use this service from any easypaisa shop. For example, household staff, drivers, guards, etc. can all now send their monthly salaries home to their families from urban cities to rural villages. Similarly, parents can send funds to their children at educational institutions in other cities for tuition fee, monthly pocket money etc. And people who travel frequently, who don’t want to carry cash can use this service as Travelers Cheques by sending money to themselves from one city and collecting the money in another city.
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Following is the official press release..
Money Transfer is going to be a secure, easy and convenient way of sending and receiving domestic remittances through easypaisa retail outlets. Users will have the convenience to access the service from more than 4,000 easypaisa merchants, a figure expected to reach 20,000 by the end of year 2010.
CEO Tameer Microfinance Bank, Nadeem Hussain considers domestic remittances a key point in providing financial access to the rural population. “Remittance flow plays a valuable role in supporting the economy. It also offers significant potential to support income of poor and vulnerable groups. Remittances are often the first and sometimes the only financial service used in low income households. Hence the potential for an accessible banking agent in remote areas of the country is immense.” He said.
At the launch of Money Transfer, CEO Telenor Pakistan Jon Eddy Abdullah said, “Providing Money Transfer service is the next step in the development of easypaisa as a unique branchless banking solution. World Bank estimates the domestic transfer volume in Pakistan to be at $6.95 billion per year. Through this service we not only aim to target all current users of domestic remittance services but also to help bring some portion of $ 2 to $ 4 billion transacted through informal channel into mainstream.”
Tameer’s original branchless banking pilot was developed in partnership with the technology program at Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a microfinance center housed at the World Bank. The program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Telenor Pakistan & Tameer Microfinance Bank’s easypaisa portfolio, which now includes Bill Payment solution and Money Transfer, is scheduled to come up with services such as, mobile wallet accounts, cash deposits and withdrawal facilities in near future. The services offer innovation, freedom, security and convenience.
