Making Mobile payments Happen for Emerging Markets: Amaana
Friday, April 4, 2008 19:37The company that’s been making some major ripples in the industry, is putting their money where your mobile phone is… quite literally. Netxpress Online speaks with Ceo of Amaana, Fahd Bangash - Here’s the conversation:
Amaana is a Silicon Valley startup since 2004 and have been working out of
What’s the difference between the work ongoing for sms-based transaction systems and what Amaana is offering?
FB: We are the only independent stored value payment network in the country with a technology platform that allows for a real time user experience and viral growth. We are not an interface or an additive to existing payment systems but an alternative to them. This means that we do not just do mobile banking, which is just another flavor of online banking. It is important to differentiate beyond traditional banking because it does not allow for the seamless handling of micro payments, which may be one of the reasons why most of our population works outside the banking system.
How does the system work?
FB: You get your amaana by texting to +92 33 44 amaana or by going to the Web at www.amaana.com/beta and following simple instructions. Once registered, you add money to your stored value account and then use it like a virtual prepaid or debit card, over SMS or the Web.
Is your system intended for individual users or something you are hoping will be adopted by financial institutions, who will be able to customize the service to the specific needs of their infrastructure and existing customer?
FB: We are for the end user, but we are working with financial institutions to offer more features to our users. Our platform also caters to configured solutions for enterprises so there will be instances of preferential access for certain user groups in a seamless sort of way.
So, we’re essentially dealing with payments through SMS. How do the payment gateways come into play? I mean, aren’t there policies, complications and issues involved?
FB: They won’t come into play unless they bring in value for consumers. Everything is regulated in this space so there is certainly a lot of work involved in getting things right, but integrating systems with another party is a separate issue and never a roadblock if the end result is larger than the sum of the parts.
How does the transaction interact with the bank involved? There IS a bank involved right?
FB: If you have a bank account that you’ve connected to your amaana to feed your stored value account then your bank is involved. The challenge is to make it easy for anyone with a mobile phone to make payments over amaana… most of our country is unbanked.
What kind of potential do you foresee for your service in markets such as
FB:
Isn’t security an issue? I mean, making a transaction using my cellphone - Is the process really that easy?
FB: It certainly is - payments are a security problem, and security is a moving science. The whole point of engineering usable technology for consumer payments is to get the security right without compromising the simplicity of the user interface.
Basic process security deals with authorization, authentication, and verification, which includes the presentation of digitized ID’s when necessary, and the input of secret PIN’s over voice calls at other times. Yes, it’s really that easy. What it boils down to is that we assume all liability for whatever happens over our payment network, which means that you are responsible for keeping your identity safe, we worry about the rest.
What’s your company’s business model? So you make this great, VERY convenient service available to the users - How does your venture survive?
FB: We offer risk free payments, for free. We attract revenue by charging low percentage fees when you withdraw money from your amaana, or when we take a cut from enterprises for facilitating the likes of bill payments or prepaid sales.
If this was all so simple, why do you think there aren’t other companies doing the same kind of work?
FB: The simplest things are the hardest to build. There is a lot of engineering and liability involved in building and operating a trust network for payments at the mass consumer level. It takes years of patient hard work, an audacious vision, and a very solid team to accomplish anything in this direction.
You’re still in your beta phase. What’s the market reaction been so far? When do you think you’ll be ready for a public launch?
FB: Payments over SMS has been an obvious killer app forever, but we got to prove it for ourselves. We found that millions of people in
Like every great idea that every passionate entrepreneur has, there is often a great hype, and then a fantastic thud back to reality. The company either overspends or doesn’t promote enough - always a problem with a young company. You’re dealing with creating a platform to deal with people’s money. What makes you think your business venture will survive the test of time? Isn’t that why people prefer to deal with brick and mortar rather than virtual companies?
FB: You’re right, there is no shortcut to glory here. We’ve put our stakes in the ground and we’re working hard towards achieving our goals. We will have to earn everybody’s trust through a process that will last years, and we’ve taken our first steps in that direction and are glad to have already found traction. It’s not about virtual companies but about new markets. Moving an entire population to a different but better paradigm means you have to get there first and then guide everybody else to it. It is the magnitude of the problem that makes it an exciting opportunity.
Anything else you’d like to add?
FB: The best way to get to know us is to use our service… go to www.amaana.com/beta to try it out. We welcome your feedback and support as we work to bring better services to you.
You can search for Amaana online for other articles about them, or else go directly to their website at: www.amaana.com/beta
