Tagattitude is specialized in mobile payment and security solutions. The company was founded in 2005 by Yves Eonnet, Loïc Eonnet and Hervé Manceron. These founders combined their expertise in smart card and telecom industries, as well as telecom infrastructure and signal processing. Manceron, chief operating officer of the company was in Nigeria last week and he spoke to Hilary Okeke
Global winner in the GSMA Innovations Category in 2008 and Eyes another Trophy this year
Well, Tagattitude has had the honour of being selected as a Global winner in the payment category in the last couple of years at the GSMA event, which is the parent association for all GSM standard operators worldwide. We won in 2008. We also had a good show at the GSMA’s Global Innovation 2009 global award competition. We won the regional events for the Americas and many others. I think we need to allow other guys to have a chance too.
Bringing Mobile Payments to the Lower End of the Market
What we are proving is an authentication solution using the mobile phones. This allows banks and other financial institutions to leverage our technology and provide services for their customers. The Near Sound Data Transfer (NSDT) technology is immediately compatible with all mobile phones in existence today, whether they are GSM or CDMA; and without need to download any application or any add-on on the mobile phones.
Major Attractions of the NSDT and Mobile Payments
By using audio channels (common to all phones), NSDT technology provides a secure and user-friendly transaction platform through which funds can be stored, extracted, transacted, and managed. This technology provides a smartcard-grade transaction security and usability on existing infrastructure and hardware. No software downloads or hardware upgrades are required and all mobile networks are eligible. It is phone-independent as well as network-independent. The payment solutions developed using NSDT are packaged into complete payment solution called TagPay, which can be implemented as any combination of the transaction functions depicted. Because NSDT solutions are universally available and deployment-free, they enable implementers to realize the dream of mobile banking and payment. Of course, this also makes them very cost-effective. Remember our focus is the low end of the market. We want to bank the unbanked.
Road Map for Nigeria
We are at the pilot stage with some leading banks and PSP providers in Nigeria. We are working on milestones and very soon, Nigerians will be able to make transactions on their mobiles on the streets, shops, online, and pay for common goods like newspapers or even a bottle of soft drink electronically, formerly bought with cash.
Nigerian Office
Tagattitude of France has always worked in third party countries through partnerships. In Mali and some other countries where we currently operate, local firms are pushing the business model and it is quite a huge success. In Nigeria, we are working in close collaboration with Tagattitude Nigeria Limited. The local representative of Tagattitude France Inc. is Tagattitude Nigeria. We have other customers and partners as well.
Nigerian Market Ready for Mobile Payment
If you look at the success of M-pesa in Kenya and some other solutions in the African market, it will be a wrong business decision not to look at Africa at a closer level. We understand the African market and that is why we designed from the beginning, a solution that serves the needs of Africans with low level entry phones, and figuring the educational levels and rate of technology adoption. Africa holds a unique attraction for us because of the success of mobile penetration across the landscape. Africa currently accounts for over 300 million mobile subscribers and Nigeria has more than 55 million under an addressable market of 140 million. The prospect for Africa is promising and rewarding. Only last Tuesday, we launched in Bamako, the Malian capital and the response was tremendous. We also offer an international remittance product into Mali used by Malians in the Diaspora.
Role of Banks in Robust Payment Ecosystem
The banking sector is believed to affect growth by improving the access to financial services and improving the efficiency of financial intermediaries, both of which reduce the cost of financing, and in turn, stimulate capital accumulation and economic growth. By enabling mobiles to make secure transactions, the banking sector is opened, improving cost and efficiency of financing. Presently, developing-world economies have difficulty accounting for cash transactions. Replacing cash with mobile payment will revitalize economies and generate development. Thus on a macro scale, implementing mobile payment addresses a challenge faced by a majority of developing economies. Mobile subscription currently outstrips the Bank accounts in Nigeria by ration 3:1 and that is projected to grow to 5:1 in 2009 and even slide further in coming years. Banks are very useful partners in the evolving ecosystem in Nigeria and across Africa.
NSDT and Unbanked Population
On individual level, mobile payment addresses a myriad of problems faced by unbanked individuals. For many, carrying cash is dangerous and cumbersome, but not having money when needed can be equally problematic. By merging phone and wallet, assets are secured and impossible to access without the mobile and private PIN. Mobile payment also facilitates tracking and management of finances, creating new tools for financial responsibility. Daily purchases in remote areas can be made in a few seconds by simply dialling a number and placing your phone against the phone of a vendor. No cards or terminals are needed. Local businesses can offer and manage prepaid accounts with their clients and pay their employees. With NSDT, all of the risks and inconveniences of cash are eliminated. Nevertheless, funds can easily and fluidly cash-in and out when needed. By enabling easy cash-out and phone to phone transactions, the reluctance to dematerialization of cash is eroded. Our solution allows anybody with a mobile phone to make withdrawals from any ATM. The only modification on the existing ATMs is software. Microfinance banks can issue and supervise loans using mobile payment, raising the standard of accountability for their clients and facilitating loan distribution and collection. Loans can be sent to phones through the internet, saving loan officers dangerous and time consuming cash-laden voyages to each borrower. Micro-loan recipients can cash the loan at an ATM or with agents. Alternatively, the money that is electronically lodged “on the phone” can be spent directly from one phone to another – avoiding cash altogether. Borrowers can repay their loans to designated agents equipped with their phones “linked” to the micro-credit bank or can repay through ATMs equipped with NSDT™ software. By integrating the NSDT™ mobile payment platform into the bank back office, microfinance operations are made more efficient, more secure, and more effective. Furthermore, there is zero hardware deployment and minimal software integration. The possibilities and advantages are endless.
Other African Operations
We are operation in Mali, Ivory Cost and some other African countries where demos and pilots are currently running. Nigeria holds a unique attraction because of the absence of a nation wide mobile payment systems and the sheer number of the mobile subscription, in addition to the very robust banking sector.
Roll Out Status in the European Union
In the EU, we have commenced operations in France for retail payments across restaurants and other merchants in Paris, which was a huge success and we are also deploying across Europe with the world’s biggest telecommunications mobile operator, Orange in selected European Nations.
Assessment of the Nigeria Financial Sector
Even in face of the global financial crunch, Nigerian banks are still very robust with great potentials. Because of the recent reforms, the banking sector is stronger. Unfortunately, banking services are available to only 10% of the populace due to the inability of many to provide the necessary IDs such as national passports or driver’s license. However, a mobile phone has a unique ID which is the MSIDN number. Using this platform, we can bank the unbanked. We are in partnership with the World Bank to provide banking services to the unbanked population in other African countries.
Products on Offer
We have created the cheapest PoS system in the world. With a printer, it costs less than N25, 000. We also have account management software for the virtual accounts that run on NSDT.
Timetable for Launch
We work based on achieving milestones. We hope to commence the deployment of pilot systems and demos for a few selected Nigerian banks and one or two PSP providers (switching companies). The next stage will be a full deployment, and that I believe will be determined by lots of local factors but like I said, we hope to begin full-scale operations soon.
Compatibility of NSDT with Mobile Types
All mobile phones currently in the market are compatible without the need to download any application or configuration. It is immediately compatible with all mobile models ranging from the cheaply priced phones to the high-end phones.