Mobile network operator, Orange has announced the creation of a new mobile crowdfunding platform in Cote d’Ivoire that will allow users to make donation requests and receive money via their Orange Money accounts. According to Orange, private individuals and charities can finance their personal and charitable projects by making an appeal through the mobile network which will then verify the request and post the request on the platform. Funding requests must have an Orange Money account in order to accept funds pledged by other users.
Commenting on the move, Orange wrote in a statement,
“The Orange Collecte initiative embodies the group’s desire to support innovative solutions that meet its customer’s basic needs, while also illustrating the issue of developing innovative financial services in Africa.”
In a region where payment card acceptance and use is minimal but mobile phone and mobile payments are widely available the move makes a lot of sense and helps generate additional use out of the Orange Money system. It comes shortly after M-Pesa in Kenya announced it was opening up its API to developers to create new applications for B2B and B2C payments. While mobile payments struggle to gain traction in mature markets, it’s clearly a different picture in other markets.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payment Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
Read the full story here
