Vodafone has Chosen Tmob’s MFS Platform: Vodafone Pay

If you try to think about trillion-dollar industries that won’t be affected by the digital revolution, banking systems may be one of the first ones to come to mind. When we look at reality, digitalisation is transforming even the most durable industries, banking included. It is forcing gigantic businesses to adapt to the new age, and even pulling down some of them. The shift had always been inevitable, but the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed almost everything for the sake of the digital transformation. Of course, banking systems are still durable to the effects of crises like these, but still, even banks had to accelerate their operations to adapt to the new-age solutions. The reason is clear, people need new ways to perform online transactions in an all-digital age like this, especially if we are talking about the unbanked and the underbanked. During the pandemic, financial transactions have risen by 150% worldwide. When you think about the fact that 31% of the adult population worldwide is underbanked*, you may imagine how this fast transition might have turned out.

Thinking about the tsunami effect this swift transition makes is enough to raise our adrenaline levels. The winners-to-be of this new-age financial transmutation is even more surprising: telecommunication companies. Many reports state that the future for telcos lies in mobile financial solutions. If you want to explore more on the matter, you can read our article titled The Next Step of Telcos: Financial Services. In this article, we are going to tell you about our partnership with an industry giant, Vodafone, for their alternative payment method Vodafone Pay.

Vodafone Pay: An convenient payment solution for the new age

The top feature of MFS platforms, in general, is that they don’t require their users to be bank customers or adults even. In a world where online payment is reaching a broader audience every other day, services like Vodafone Pay come to be the saviour for people who need to make online transactions, especially if we are talking about the unbanked and the underbanked. For people who have no reach to a banking system, mobile payment solutions like Vodafone Pay turns out to be the perfect solution. Here is what we have solved with Vodafone Pay in Turkey with our MFS platform. To learn more about our platform, visit our page.

More liberation in money transfer, online shopping, and every aspect of digital payment

One of the biggest problems in bank accounts is that their customers can only make money transfer within working hours. With MFS systems like Vodafone Pay, users can transfer money 24/7. In Vodafone Pay’s case, we have added some new features like asking for money from contact lists with only a phone number to make the experience even more seamless. 

Another problem of the modern age, as we’ve mentioned above, is the underbanked population. Especially after the COVID-19 crisis, the need to do online transactions is higher than ever, and services like Vodafone Pay helps a lot with their benefits. For example, people can sign up as Vodafone Pay users within seconds and start using it within hours. Compared to opening a bank account, it’s incredibly faster and easier.

As safe as online banking 

Banks are known for their credibility and secure natures. That’s true, and that credibility is one of the main reasons that banks had been so late in the new-age mobile financial solutions. Yes, it is safe to use a bank, but today’s technology makes MFS systems as safe as a bank since they focus on fund transfers and online payments. In short, MFS systems like Vodafone Pay are digital wallets that can do more, and that makes it as safe as a bank account without the paperwork and expanded procedures. 

More practical and affordable

We mentioned that it takes minutes to set up a Vodafone Pay account and start using it, and the same rules apply in the majority of the MFS systems. Practicality is one of the top-selling points of Vodafone Pay, but if there is another thing that the users love, it is the fact that Vodafone Pay is free to use. Which is, of course, way more affordable than opening a bank account. On top of that, Vodafone decided to offer Vodafone Pay users a prepaid credit card to use in their daily lives, which is another selling point for the brand since it is a more wise method than a credit card for the new generation of customers. 

Telcos can reach where the banks cannot, especially in the developing countries

Reports state that 31% of the global population has no access to banking systems. When you look at telecommunications carriers’ reach, it is 97% worldwide. According to Statista’s report, 93% of mobile users live within the reach of 3G or 4G networks. These numbers are the hard proof that telcos can reach more people than banks, and when you consider the MFS systems’ ease of use, they fill a huge gap, especially in developing countries where people don’t have access to banking systems.

For example, Africa leads the mobile financial revolution. The number of mobile wallet users in the continent has reached more than 21% of the population, and it is growing exponentially. 

The unbanked and the underbanked may seem like a third-world issue, but the situation is not dramatically different from the world-leading countries like the USA. According to NBC, 25% of US households still remain either unbanked or underbanked. So yes, there is a huge demand to be met, and telcos are the best options to help. 

Of course, it is a win-win for both the telcos and the underbanked population. For telecommunication companies, it’s nearly impossible to increase their revenue via new connectivity solutions, but fintech is still virgin territory which has become the next step for telcos to win the next digital age. To learn more about our MFS solutions, you can visit our page or book a meeting with an expert by clicking here.