By peter oluka
Mahindra Comviva, the global leader in providing mobility solutions, has won the Digital Impact Awards Africa in the “Best Digital Financial Service Platform for Africa” for its mobiquity® platform.
The awards were presented recently at a glittering award ceremony at the Kampala Serena Hotel in Uganda. This recognition came against tough competition with the likes of Ericsson Converged Wallet, Huawei Mobile Money and OboPay also in the fray.
With 50 mobile money deployments in 36 countries, mobiquity® is the largest mobile money platform in Africa. It offers a plethora of features and services, including domestic and international remittances, bill payments, person-to-government payments, NFC merchant payments, companion cards, Savings, savings club, micro-loans, bulk payments and many more.
Srinivas Nidugondi, Senior VP and Head, Mobile Financial Solutions at Mahindra Comviva said, “The success of our mobiquity® platform in Africa is inspirational for millions to move out of poverty, irrespective of how isolated they are. With our deep investment in innovation, technology and industry best practices, we’ve been able to deliver products and services that resonate deeply with the times and lives of millions in Africa. This recognition provides a motivation for us to remain invested in this journey and create even more opportunities for socio – economic empowerment in the future.”
Anil Krishnan, vice president and head of Africa Region at Mahindra Comviva said, “The award is a testament to our mobiquity® platform’s evolution in a changing payments paradigm, as it supports basic services, as well as matured offerings such as savings, loans, companion cards and NFC merchant payments.
“In the initial stages of mobile money’s evolution in Africa, mobiquity® platform was catering primarily to P2P payments, given the migrant population and informal network of family and friends, who are the primary source of financing. However, with the maturing of the mobile money ecosystem, it has brought micro-financial services into the mainstream, mobilizing small savings and galvanizing instant loans for people with no credit history, with just their mobile services usage.”
Digital Impact Awards Africa (DIAA) 2017 conducted research in which 288 companies operating in Africa were assessed for their digital embrace and innovation. DIAA2017 had 9 awards categories that were eligible for companies operating across Africa.
For these categories, several companies that had highly commendable contribution to Africa digital and financial inclusion through innovations have been declared winner following DIAA research panel assessment and recommendations.
The winners have been at the forefront of innovation and applying best practice to steer digital inclusion and financial inclusion.