By SundiataPOST, Abuja
PARIS – Orange and the BNP Paribas group offer retail banking customers in Africa direct access between their BNP Paribas account and their Orange Money account through their mobile phones. This new service became available on Monday in Côte d’Ivoire and will be extended to other countries in which BNP Paribas and Orange Money are present, particularly Senegal.
The service allows customers of the BNP Paribas group (BICICI in Côte d’Ivoire) to carry out real-time banking operations without going to their banks, simply by using their Orange Money account.
Customers can transfer money to their Orange Money account directly from their BNP Paribas bank account, or vice versa, simply, quickly and securely.
This flexibility in transferring money between bank accounts and mobile accounts will make it easier to use the services already offered by Orange Money, such as payment for goods and services (water, electricity and television bills, etc.) and purchases of airtime credit.
The large network of licensed Orange Money distributors will supplement the network of BNP Paribas bank branches, offering a maximum number of cash withdrawal points to all customers, particularly in more remote areas.
“Orange Money and BNP Paribas are joining forces to deploy Orange Money services to banking customers in their common sales territories in Africa. BNP Paribas customers will thus benefit from Orange Money functionalities such as money transfers, bill payments, merchant payments and purchases of airtime credit. The synergies of our businesses will make it easier for customers to manage their money, wherever they are in the country and at any time of the day,” says Thierry Millet, Director of the Payments and Contactless Programme at Orange.
“This agreement gives Orange Money customers access to new banking services (savings account, international bank card, etc.) and gives BNP Paribas customers access to an extensive withdrawal/deposit network and the possibility of paying bills or buying telephone credit from their mobile phones,” adds François Benaroya, Retail Director in the International Retail Banking branch of BNP Paribas.
Through the new partnership, Orange Money and BNP Paribas pledge to increase the percentage of the population holding bank accounts by offering a fast, secure and reliable service for managing all daily banking operations.
Orange Money currently has more than 10 million customers in 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Subscription to the Orange Money service is free of charge.
