Etisalat Launches easywallet Mobile Money Services

Etisalat Nigeria has unveiled easywallet, a secure and user-friendly SIM Application for mobile money payments and transfers and the company said the service is in line with its focus of providing innovative products and services for its customers,

Easywallet which is offered in partnership with leading Nigerian banks including First Bank, GTBank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Zenith Bank is a more convenient and secure platform which allows Etisalat customers easy access to their preferred mobile money scheme for conducting secure money transfers and payments.

With easywallet, Etisalat aims to bring mobile money closer to the customer and drive the CBN’s Cashless policy by growing the use of Mobile payments and making it easy to use.

The launch of easywallet is a landmark in Nigeria and progress towards mobile money adoption, as it is the first fully secure Mobile Money SIM Application offered to customers with the easywallet application installed on their SIM cards.

This unique application supports multiple languages - English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba and works across all makes and models of phones, smartphones and even tablet devices. Easywallet is compliant with all industry standards such as ISO-1 and guarantees adequate protection of customer information while carrying out mobile financial transactions across multiple mobile money schemes.

Steven Evans, chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria, stated that the company’s strategy is to be a leader in providing its customer with cutting edge and secure channels for Mobile Financial Services.

This involves being a major enabler and innovator in the Nigerian Ecosystem and working with all key stakeholders to create a value proposition to meet the needs of the customers. 

"Research has shown that mobile-banking and mobile-payments can help lower the transaction costs of money transfer, increase the flow of money by making it easier to send smaller amounts and introduce those without bank accounts to a means of secure financial management.  By enabling people to use their mobile phones as mobile wallets, we hope to deliver lasting benefits not just for our customers, but also for the Nigerian economy. We believe the benefits of Etisalat easywallet to our customers will be immense and also has the potential to transform the way we handle and manage money in Nigeria. Mobile phones have already improved the African way of life in so many ways and it is exciting to think it now has the potential to replace notes and coins and give all of our customer’s access to world-class banking services”.

Explaining the features of easywallet, Wael Ammar , chief commercial officer, Etisalat Nigeria, said, “easywallet allows users an easy and secure way to perform financial services using their mobile phones from any part of the country. This service works on all Etisalat SIM cards and customers are only required to register with any of the Schemes in order to start using easywallet. Customers are not charged from their airtime for any transactions from the mobile money SIM menu”.

Etisalat customers using the easywallet service are able to pay bills, pay for goods and services, receive and send money to friends and family, send and receive money to bank accounts, withdraw cash, top up their own airtime account or top up someone else's and manage their bank accounts. He said

Etisalat currently maintains a partnership with the following operators - Pagatech, e-tranzact, Ecobank, Paycom, and Eartholeum on the USSD and SMS platform to make a wide range of mobile financial services available to Etisalat customers and is working with other financial institutions in Nigeria to become part of this transformational service.