VMBS
has finally made up their mind as it relates to Mobile Money.
They're
now signed up with AIS (Advanced Integrated Systems) and Quisk to be a part of
their Mobile Money 2.0 launch as reported in “More
Mobile Money Products Coming”, published Friday May
13, 2016 by Tameka Gordon, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
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VMBS
has been testing a Mobile Money platform in partnership with AIS and Quisk
since December 2015. They're also been making upgrades to their ABM (Automated
Banking Machine) Network as noted in the article “Victoria
Mutual To Roll Out Upgrades”, published Friday May 13, 2016 ,
by Tameka Gordon, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
Pending
BOJ (Bank of Jamaica) approval, these upgrades represent an expansion of the
building society as they ramp up their efforts to become more efficient and
increase their customer base.
Their
upgrades include:
1. Third-party
transfers to other local banks
2. Wire
transfers to overseas financial institutions
3. Upgraded
online banking platform
4. Kiosks
with Internet banking capabilities
5. ABM
(Automated Banking Machines)
6. Included
cheque-deposit boxes
These
upgrades are being added to their fifteen (15) branches. With ten (10) branches
outside of Kingston, the upgrades will encourage the unbanked to join VMBS,
especially as their kiosks and online banking platforms will make paying bills
to some thirty (30) service providers a snap!
AIS, Quisk and VMBS -
Avengers Assemble for Mobile Money 2.0 secure platform
Yes,
it is indeed Avengers Assemble moment.
AIS
and Quisk Mobile Money 2.0 platform basically makes accessing your bank account
for a myriad of services as easy as sending a text message as explained in my blog
article entitled “How
Quisk and AIS Mobile Money 2.0 heralds Cashless Society in Jamaica in July 2016”.
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The
simplicity and high level of security that Mobile Money 2.0 affords by using
SMS (Short Messaging Service) did not go unnoticed by many in the financial
sector. After all, the use of Text messaging, which uses A5/1 codebook typical
of most GSM (Global Systems Mobile) Telecom Networks, employs a 64-bit
encryption key.
This
makes their Mobile Money solution ultra-secure, as App based Mobile Wallet are
easily compromised using various software hacking tools as described in my blog
article entitled “How
NSA can hack the Baseband Processor and control your smartphone”.
This
means that their Network are relatively secure, a fact that AIS and Quisk use
as the main selling point for Mobile Money 2.0. Already there are some
interested parties who have plans to roll out the Quisk and AIS Mobile Money
2.0 platform by July 2016:
1. NCB
(National Commercial Bank)
2. Lasco
Financial Limited
3. VMBS
(Victoria Mutual Building Society)
4. JMMB
(Jamaica Money Market Brokers)
Lasco
Financial Services most likely is looking to reduce long lines and make it
possible for their members, many of whom do not have smartphones, to spend
directly from their smartphones. But their being awfully quiet about it, to
quote LFSL Managing Director, Jacinth Hall-Tracey: “It's not at the stage that
we can speak about it yet because our application is not even approved yet. We
are making our application now”.
JMMB
is still on the fence, as Mobile Money might not benefit their investment
business but might boost their banking membership by making increasing their
customer base. However, they too are playing it quiet, to quote electronic
services manager at JMMB, Teverly Gray, who said that JMMB is “at the initial
stage of exploring Mobile Money solutions with varying stakeholders” and
“continues to explore the possible implementation of Mobile Money platform”.
They're
definately be real competitors to JCCUL (Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union) and
Mozido Jamaica CONEC Mobile, which still doesn't allow access to your money on
the weekends as noted in my blog
article entitled “JCUES
now CONEC Mobile Wallet - Why CONEC Mobile Wallet still inconvenient despite
Paymaster”.
So
a quick roll call of the competition is in order.
GraceKennedy, Digicel
and Supreme Ventures - Gung-ho Mobile Money Cowboys
According
to the BOJ, since December 2015, five (5) Mobile Money provider have applied to
begin doing testing of their platforms.
I
know that Digicel is super close to launching their Mobile Money platform in
partnership with Paymaster as explained in my blog
article entitled “Why
Digicel's purchase of Paymaster means Mobile Money is launching in 2016”.
Digicel
has confirmed that Sagicor Bank Jamaica is doing all the legwork in terms of
talking to the BOJ. GraceKennedy is set to launch Mobile Money soon as noted in
the article “GraceKennedy
promises to roll out mobile wallet in 2016”, published Wednesday, May 04,
2016, The Jamaica
Observer.
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GraceKennedy
have already begun testing their platform with some 200 members of GK's staff
as their guinea pigs. They going after everything in a battle to match up their
services to AIS and Quisk:
1. Cash-in
and cash-out transactions at agent locations
2. Person-to-person
transfers
3. Real-time
top-up for FLOW and Digicel
4. Bill
payments, possibly using Bill Express
To
quote GraceKennedy CEO Don Wehby, they're being extra careful to make sure
everything they plan to offer actually works as advertised: “GraceKennedy's
approach to the Mobile Money offering has been to spend the time to ensure that
we deliver to the market a product that anticipates and meets the needs of our
customers”.
Finally
don't forget Supreme Ventures. The gaming company has upgrade to an IFLEX
Betting Platform, making it possible for customers to place bets and collect
their winning via their smartphone App as described in my blog
article entitled “Supreme
Ventures Limited IFLEX Betting Platform Upgrade - How Mobile Gambling via
Smartphone is finally coming to Jamaica”.
It's
rare in the Fintech World to see so many banks so gung-ho about a product
that'll basically send more of their employees home. Still, the promised level
of efficiency means that other players are eager to get on the Mobile Money wagon.
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