Wireless operator Orange has integrated its mobile Money platform with the Bank of Africa, enabling users to perform basic banking transactions with their handsets.
Bank of Africa and Orange Money customers will be able to transfer money directly from their Orange Money account to their BOA account and vice versa, using the handset to pay for goods and services such as utility bills and purchase airtime.
The large network of licensed Orange Money distributors will supplement the network of 450 Bank of Africa branches, extending the range of cash withdrawal points to the customers of the two companies.
Marc Rennard, senior EVP at Orange says: "Our respective businesses complement each other making it easier for customers to manage their money using their mobile, wherever they are in the country and at any time of the day."
The new service, which is designed for both individuals and professionals, is already available in Madagascar since August and will be extended to Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, Niger and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the coming months.
Separately, Orange says its emergency credit facility - which extends small loans for mobile airtime, SMS or mobile internet sessions - has reached a milestone of three billion loan transactions from 20 million active users per month just four years after it was launched.
Customers subscribe to the Emergency Credit via their mobiles and pay the loan back when they next top up their credit.
With the platform now handling over 80 million transactions per month, Orange says it will will shortly extend the credit facility to include mobile data usage and content.