Partnership with MMIT in Africa

RNS Number : 9250P

Bango PLC

08 October 2013

 



08 October 2013

BANGO PLC

("Bango" or "the Company")

Partnership with MMIT in Africa

Launch of M-Iflo, the payment verification portal, and solution to Africa's complex mobile payment landscape

Bango (AIM:BGO), the mobile web payments and analytics company, announces a partnership with MMIT to launch M-Iflọ, a safe payment solution that enables online transactions for digital content. M-Iflọ navigates the complex mobile payment environment in Sub-Saharan Africa and is tailored to the needs of the industry leaders in mobile content.

MMIT is an African-based mobile payment software developer with a mission to revolutionize mobile money payment and transfers in Africa.  The jointly developed M-Iflọ solution is a billing mechanism and verification portal for digital wallets, specifically designed to fit the cash-exchange culture of Africa. It offers reliability and security to app stores and digital merchants, providing millions of people in Africa with the ability to make mobile payments for apps, games and other smartphone content. 

Beginning in key Sub-Saharan markets, M-Iflọ will initially be available in Kenya and Nigeria, quickly followed by Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. M-Iflọ is already integrated with some of the major mobile wallet providers in Africa, including Mobipay in Kenya and Stanbic IBTC Mobile Money in Nigeria, with further rollouts in process.

M-Iflọ is a payment verification portal that is a secure conduit for mobile content providers to reach the African market; acting as an intermediary between mobile merchants and mobile wallet providers. M-Iflọ allows consumers with a mobile wallet account in Africa to pick their wallet provider as a payment option at the checkout page of a content site. The wallet holder enters their mobile wallet number for account verification and obtains the content. In near real-time, the tool queries the accounts of mobile wallet subscribers to determine if the subscriber has enough value in their wallet account to facilitate a purchase. M-Iflọ also enables those without a mobile wallet to buy content on major app stores, using a top-up card that can be bought in retail outlets, with codes to use at the checkout page of an app store or other merchant site.

M-Iflọ minimizes risk and allows merchants to be paid up front. The result is that app stores and other merchants bypass traditional issues such as, payments being held up in another country due to bureaucracy, fraud or changes in regulation. Meanwhile African consumers can look forward to full participation in the mobile commerce explosion.

Africa's growing population of smartphone users are young, tech savvy and early adopters by instinct. However, when it comes to payment for mobile apps and content, consumers in Africa are restricted, often excluded from mobile commerce because merchants are fearful of the risks of doing business in Africa. M-Iflọ seeks to address those issues and therefore unlock a world of mobile payments.

Bango CEO Ray Anderson said:"Bango is delighted to have partnered with MMIT to offer a much needed solution to the complexities of mobile content consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa. There's a smartphone boom in Africa and a frustrated demand for digital content. App stores and other merchants have been waiting for the reassurance of M-Iflọ, which limits the risk of doing business in Africa, and has been designed to suit the 'cash up front' instincts of the African market."

Jide Akindele, CEO of MMITcommented: "Mobile billing has been held back across much of Africa, limited by a range of technological and political risk factors. Political instability in a number of Sub-Saharan countries has resulted in unclear regulatory environments and a lack of proper infrastructure to support stable carrier-grade billing systems. Settlement and collection of funds is complex, with rapidly fluctuating exchange rates, varying taxes, and transfer fees. Unfortunately corruption remains a substantial risk within the mobile money industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This has resulted in a reluctance from the world's app stores and mobile brands to engage the African market."

Jide Akindele, CEO of MMIT added: "Merchants in the western market are yearning for a suitable payment process platform that minimizes their risk in the African market. We believe that our M-Iflọ platform gives our clients that capability to do so. We look forward to opening up access to content store owners that are looking at the African market via Bango and MMIT's mobile money payment processing platform."

For Further information please contact:

Bango plc	Newgate Threadneedle	Cenkos Securities plc
Tel. [phone]	Tel. [phone]	Tel. [phone]
Ray Anderson, CEO	Fiona Conroy	Ken Fleming
Gerry Tucker, CFO	Caroline Evans-Jones	Neil McDonald
	Jasper Randall

About Bango

In the era of mobile technology, collecting payments has emerged as a central and complex challenge. Bango (AIM: BGO) powers payment and analytics on the mobile web, providing users with a massively smooth payment experience.

Bango's pervasive presence across the web creates a platform effect for partners, identifying hundreds of millions of users and maximizing the number of one click payments. Global leaders plugging into Bango include Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), BlackBerry World (NASDAQ: BBRY), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Firefox Marketplace, Google Play, Windows Phone Store (NASDAQ: MSFT) and major mobile brands including CNN, Cartoon Network and EA Mobile. Visit: bango.com

About MMIT

Mobile Media Info Tech Limited ('MMIT') is a mobile software development company with a mission to revolutionize money transfer capabilities, mobile banking, and mobile payment processes.

MMIT creates and distributes proprietary mobile technology platforms to augment ways in which mobile and web users make financial transactions, for personal and emergency purposes.

Our Vision: Changing the MMT Industry One Payment at a Time.

 

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