Vodafone Qatar launch mobile money with a local bank

It was reported recently that Vodafone Qatar would be launching a mobile money remittance service in conjunction with Doha Bank early in the next year (Read here). Anybody following mobile payments are aware of the massive benefits that remittance services bring to emerging markets as well as the relevance of the Middle East. The large migrant workforce and the vibrant and dynamic banking industry makes this an ideal market to deploy mobile remittance services. Vodafone is also well-known for the good work that they have done in this space in Africa with the well-known product mPesa. In the light of this, the Qatar announcement is particularly interesting for me because of two reasons:

• It seems that the planned product is different to the typical product launched in Kenya. While the basic functionality and the features remained the same, the registration process and compliance seem to be very different. This is good as it shows an ability to conform to different requirements in different markets.
• The prominence of a partner bank from the start of the service is also different. This is a more mature approach (for a more mature market). This may mean a slightly lower slice of the action for the mobile operator, but ensures a more robust (from a compliance perspective) approach.

It is clear that the Vodafone Group is a approaching this space in a deliberate and well-planned way.