Digital payments and remittances services TimesofMoney has launched its mobile money product ‘Movit’ in Ethiopia, in partnership with Ethiopia’s United Bank S.C. The product will allow branchless banking for United Bank S.C’s customers, enable them usage of its ‘agent banking facilities’ and let them create and use virtual wallets. The agent service introduced by United Bank, called Hi-bir Agent Banking Service, will let the bank’s customers transact at any gas station, supermarket, small shop etc., through United Bank agents, according to this Ethiopian Herald report. This service, which was also developed by TimesofMoney, will help make transactions easier for customers, while providing a commission to the agent. Movit basically provides a secure account through which users can send money and make payments from their mobile phones. This is integrated into various customizable mobile payment solutions TimesofMoney builds for banks, telcos and other financial institutions. The platform supports mobile wallet features, merchant/government payments, agent panels and international remittances. These features are provided as modules, that can be integrated as per client requirements. Movit also claims to factor in various global and local AML, KYC and other compliance requirements to provide these services. The platform is also device and channel agnostic: it will work on smartphones, feature phones, desktops, applications, mobile web etc., without compatibility problems. Its not clear however, how many of these features United Bank is currently employing. Other than Movit, TimesofMoney offers ‘payce’, a remittance service, ‘billmart’, a bill payment platform to process online and recurring payments for service…
