The amount of cellphone banking transactions by FNB customers in Botswana tops activity by the bank's other customers in the southern African region, outside South Africa, where it has operations.
According to a report published by the Independent on-line, Botswana - which is the bank's leading subsidiary outside South Africa in terms of cellphone banking activity, saw just over 1.3 million transactions in the year up to December 2011 and a 126 percent increase year-on-year in the same month. According to research by the International Telecommunications User (ITU), Botswana has 2.3 million cellphone users.
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Namibia recorded year-on-year growth of 155 percent, Zambia 308 percent and Swaziland 227 percent. The bank's customers conducted 2.4 million cellphone banking transactions to the value of R214 million(P197.4 million) during December 2011 in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho. Ravesh Ramlakan, CEO FNB Cellphone Banking Solutions, says the growth of the service in African markets is due to consumers' increasing confidence in their mobile handsets as communication devices, coupled with the convenience the solution offers.
"Innovation has played a key role in growing cellphone banking across Africa," Ramlakan says. "Our ability to adapt the service for use on any cellphone has been an important driver of this growth." Mobile banking is taking off across Africa, with FNB recording 150 percent growth year-on-year from December 2011 for its cellphone banking service and 1,384 percent growth for e-Wallet.
Users can conduct a number of transactions using FNB Cellphone Banking, including transferring money between their own FNB accounts, buying prepaid airtime and making third party payments.
Since inception, FNB e-Wallet has generated 407,110 original sends in its four African operations (Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia) as at the end of December 2011. In Botswana FNB, e-Wallet saw an increase in original sends of 1,236 percent year-on-year from December 2010 to December 2011.
e-Wallet allows FNB customers to send money to anyone within the borders of the country in which the service operates. The recipient does not need to have a bank account. The money is transferred instantly and the recipient uses a pin code sent to their cellphone to access the cash from FNB ATMs.
FNB launched its cellphone banking in South Africa in 2005, Botswana in 2006, Namibia in 2007, Zambia in 2009, Swaziland last year and Lesotho this year.
Cellphone banking is expanding in Africa as cellular penetration rates soar due to a declining use of fixed line telephones. Countries such as South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt have some of the continent's highest cellphone penetration rates. This has created joint-venture opportunities for cellphone companies and banks to deliver financial services to reach the unbanked, particularly those in remote areas where building branches is uneconomical. According to a FinScope Botswana 2009 survey, more than half of the country's adult population remains unbanked. Botswana's first two cellphone companies, Mascom and Orange, have gone into several joint ventures with banks, the latest products being Orange's My Money and Mascom's MyZaka.
The success of e-Wallet in Botswana has resulted in plans to roll out the product in other African subsidiaries in the near future. FNB Botswana set the trend in the use of cellphone banking technology six years ago, overtaking Standard Chartered and Barclays to become Botswana's largest profit maker in the sector.
Introducing cellphone banking only in August 2009, Stanchart and Barclays recently emerged on the market with innovative products of their own which appear to be relatively cheaper in terms of charges but are trailing behind in terms of service.
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