MasterCard and GSMA to pilot international mobile money transfer program

MasterCard Worldwide and the GSM Association (GSMA) have announced their joint intention to pilot a program to simplify international person-to-person money transfer.

The pilot will begin in 2007 and is targeted for the "underbanked" community—the many people worldwide who lack access to traditional banking services. The pilot brings together the MasterCard® Money Send program and the mobile phone operators of the GSM Association, who together will analyze how to help people working in certain countries quickly, easily and securely transfer funds to friends or relatives in their home countries, using mobile payments technology.

The six-month pilot will initially focus on person-to-person money transfers in corridors in the world where people regularly send money back to their home countries. In this pilot, it is envisaged that the recipients of funds will be notified via a text message sent over the mobile networks and they be able to access those funds via debit and prepaid accounts issued by local banks. The specific solutions that are expected to enable such transfers will be tailored to the individual needs of each pilot market, in conjunction with participating GSM Association member operators and financial institution partners.

"In its pivotal role at the heart of commerce, MasterCard has always been committed to harnessing its payment card products and advanced technology to help drive innovation, pioneer new forms of payment and help steer the future of global commerce," said Roy Dunbar, president, Global Technology and Operations, MasterCard Worldwide. "The GSM Association plays an equally pivotal role in connecting hundreds of million of people."

"This pilot provides a unique opportunity to test the use of our global payments products and platform to help create access to the global economy for people facing barriers to participation. We look forward to working with the GSM Association and its member operators in local markets, along with financial institutions, to assess how we can bring much needed payment and money transfer alternatives to the vast community of underbanked--as well as all consumers wishing to transfer money internationally."

"We believe that this pilot program has tremendous potential because a person will no longer be tied to a particular place, such as an ATM or a branch office of a bank or other international payments service when either sending or accessing funds," said Rob Conway, chief executive officer, GSMA, speaking from the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. "We're excited to work with MasterCard on this pilot because its global reach, integrated technology systems and customer banks are well positioned to help the mobile telecoms industry reach the underbanked community, and ultimately to help this program succeed."