Domestic Top-up
Mobile operators were facing a number of challenges associated with traditional PIN/card based pre-paid top-ups – existing platforms were unable to scale in terms of volumes and recharge PIN values to support rapidly growing subscriber bases. In addition, the lack of visibility into dealer inventories, the inability to project sales by denomination and the lack of real-time reporting on sales made management of inventory challenging. Added to this, the time and effort involved in manual distribution of cards was costly. m:TopUp, MoreMagic’s real-time electronic replenishment platform includes a virtual inventory systems that enables merchant inventory to be managed remotely. The solution has replaced scratch card denominations and eliminated stock-outs amongst merchants which in itself has resulted in a significant increase in top-up sales. The ease of use and immediacy offered by m:TopUp encourages prepaid subscribers to top-up their phones more frequently, resulting in increased monthly spend. The robustness and flexibility of the solution means that it is able to support continued subscriber growth – unlimited inventory allows more efficient recharge distribution and complete tracking with near real-time reporting. Over 35 customer worldwide are using m:TopUp today who together serve over 50 million prepaid subscribers.
International Top-up
Foreign born residents of developed nations needed a cost effective, immediate and secure way of replenishing the prepaid phones of their friends and family back home. MoreMagic’s International TopUp service enables the real-time replenishment of over 500 million prepaid subscriber accounts belonging to 120 plus mobile operators worldwide. International TopUp provides mobile operators with a new revenue stream and the opportunity to extend their brand beyond their domestic market. A growing network of fifty major distributors across five countries are equally benefiting from this new revenue source. International TopUp supports multiple currencies and a number of different channels including online (via the leading portal www.etopuponline.com), retail and Smartphone applications for maximum customer convenience. Consumers have a viable alternative to traditional remittances which provides an immediate and cost effective way of sending a gift of airtime direct to the prepaid phone of friends and family back home.
Splash Mobile Money, Sierra Leone
In an environment where only 9% of the population had access to traditional banking services there was an over-reliance on risky cash based transactions. Splash, Sierra Leone’s first mobile money service, was launched commercially in February 2010 following a successful pilot. Built on MoreMagic’s m:Wallet™, this comprehensive service is available from all three network operators in Sierra Leone (Africell, Comium and Airtel (formerly Zain)) who represent a total subscriber base of more than 1.8 million. Splash customers, many of whom have previously never had access to basic financial services, can easily register at one of the 150 plus agents across Sierra Leone without the need for a bank account. The flexible service allows electronic funds or ‘SplashCash’ to be ‘cashed-out’, used to make purchases at participating retail agent locations and pay utility bills, or converted into prepaid airtime. Splash also includes a payroll application which supports bulk disbursements and corporate sales. It enables customers to get their money into circulation quickly, increasing liquidity and building familiarity and trust. Overcoming the challenges of dealing with a predominantly illiterate society and building a robust distribution network from scratch, Splash achieved 65,000 users in just six months and today has a distribution network of over 150 agents.
Park by Phone, Ireland
Local authorities in Ireland were looking for a secure alternative to cash based parking meters and to reduce the expense associated with maintenance and operation. Based on MoreMagic’s m:Wallet Park by Phone, was launched in March 2000. The device agnostic solution enabled secure cashless payments and connected to banks and other financial institutions. Not only did it enable motorists to pay for parking via their mobile wallet and eliminate the need to carry change, they were also alerted via SMS when their time was about to expire and given an option to extend. Park by Phone, one of Ireland’s first mobile parking services based on a stored valued account, was adopted by over 200,000 motorists.
