Source: Orange |

Orange and Ecobank launch a bank-to-wallet money transfer service linked to Orange Money in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Niger

Customers can use their mobile phones to securely transfer money between accounts at any time

Since its launch in January 2015 in Mali, this service has been a huge success with close to 110 million euros transferred between Ecobank and Orange Money accounts

PARIS, France, March 21, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ --

This partnership, which is already operational in Mali since January 2015 and in Cameroun since August 2015, facilitates money transfers for both Ecobank (www.Ecobank.com) and Orange (www.Orange.com) customers by allowing them to top-up their Orange Money e-wallet from their bank account, and vice versa.

Customers can use their mobile phones to securely transfer money between accounts at any time, without the need to go to a distribution point or to have any physical cash. Ecobank customers can also view bank account balance and obtain mini-statements by SMS via the service.

By enabling customers to link their bank account with their Orange Money account, this new service in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Conakry and Niger furthers the development of mobile financial services in Africa.

“Since its launch in January 2015 in Mali, this service has been a huge success with close to 110 million euros transferred between Ecobank and Orange Money accounts,” said Thierry Millet, Director of Orange Money, Mobile Payment and Contactless. “This easy-to-use system meets the demands of customers who already have a bank account and who want to use their mobile phones to carry out bank operations, wherever they are in the country and at whatever time of day. Customers will also benefit from the extensive network of thousands of licensed Orange Money vendors in addition to Ecobank’s own high-street branches, considerably increasing the number of withdrawal points. We are happy to deploy this partnership in large scale,” he said.

Patrick Akinwuntan, Group Executive, Consumer Banking at Ecobank Group said: “We have seen remarkable success in the volume of bank transfers since the beginning of a successful partnership between Ecobank and Orange and we are confident that this service will also have a great success the new countries that are embarking on this service. It is a platform which highlights the importance of on-line banking and mobile today and to our commitment in bringing convenient banking services to everyone in central Africa.”

Launched in the Côte d’Ivoire in December 2008, Orange Money is currently available in 14 countries in Africa and the Middle East. With close to 8 billion euros exchanged over the course of 2015 and over 16 million customers, Orange Money continues its rapid growth.

Orange Money is a service that enables customers to transfer money from their mobile phone to other account-holders across the country and, from certain countries, to users based abroad. Depending on the country, they can also use the service to remotely pay electricity, water or television bills, buy air time for their mobile, or benefit from savings or insurance services.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Orange.

Press contacts:

Orange: +33 1 44 44 93 93
Caroline Simeoni, caroline.simeoni@orange.com
Tom Wright, tom.wright@orange.com 

Ecobank: +288 22 21 03 03
Mireille Bokpe mbokpe@ecobank.com

About Orange
Orange (www.Orange.com) is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 40 billion euros in 2015 and 156,000 employees worldwide at 31 December2015, including 97,000 employees in France. Present in 28 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 263 million customers worldwide at 31 December 2015, including 201 million mobile customers and 18 million fixed broadband customers. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentials2020” which places customer experience at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.

Orange is listed on Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).
For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, www.livetv.orange.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orangegrouppr.
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trademarks of Orange or Orange Brand Services Limited.

About Ecobank
Incorporated in Lomé, Togo, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) (www.Ecobank.com) is the parent company of the leading independent pan-African banking group, Ecobank. It currently has a presence in 36 African countries, namely: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Ecobank Group is also represented in France through its affiliate EBI SA in Paris. ETI also has representative offices in Dubai-United Arab Emirates, London-UK and Beijing-China. The Group employs over 20,000 people in 40 different countries in over 1,200 branches and offices. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organisations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals. Additional information may be found at ecobank.com.