Personal Finances
Haiti Mobile Money Reaches 5 Million Transactions
- Wednesday, July 11, 2012 6:02 PM
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Written by The Digicel Group
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Digicel/Voila reached five million mobile money transactions summing up to $52 million and was rewarded by the Haiti Mobile Money Initiative of USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the Karibe Hotel on Tuesday.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012: It was yesterday, in the Akajou room fo the Karibe Hotel that the two mobile operators, Digicel and Voila were rewarded by Haiti Mobile Money Initiative (HMMI) for achieving 5 million transactions. This project is an initiative of USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with the goal of bringing basic financial services to the Haitian people. This milestone of five million transactions is a testament to how quickly the mobile wallet was developed in just two years in Haiti.
The partnership of Bill and Melinda Gates with USAID has allocated nearly $10 million to the HMMI project and since its launch in November 2010, the competition relates to the financial service, TchoTcho Mobile, funds of nearly $52 million.
To date, TchoTcho Mobile, the first financial service of the mobile phone, launched in Haiti with more than 900 agents serving more than 500,000 registered customers, have already completed more than five million transactions.
Digicel will reinvest this money to expand its network to offer mobile financial services to the Haitian people, especially the unbanked, which will allow a company to achieve its primary goal: the creation of a society using electronic money.
The team merged TchoTcho Mobile and T-Cash (mobile service known as Voila) will be led by newly appointed CEO, David Sharpe, a veteran of Digicel who also worked at Voila and has established an SMS system that is widely used by local businesses.
Commenting on this achievement for TchoTcho Mobile, Damian Blackburn, CEO of Digicel Haiti, said:
David Sharpe, CEO of TchoTcho Mobile, said:
"Our recent developments with TchoTcho Mobile would not have been possible without the cooperation established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID. Accordingly, we provide one of Haiti's most innovative financial services on a mobile phone."
TchoTcho Mobile has also been used for a reconstruction initiative with the UNDP, allowing beneficiaries to issue coupons to electronic hardware stores, shortlisted to buy materials to rebuild homes destroyed by the earthquake of January 12, 2010. Among the most recent partnerships, TchoTcho Mobile with the Government of Haiti aim to reach 100,000 mothers during the first six months of operations. "Ti Manman Cheri" is the first conditional cash transfer program designed to Haiti, the only requirement for qualification is that mothers have their child(ren) recorded to a predetermined school in the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince.
The project has set extraordinary HMMI goals for Digicel and Voila to allow them to introduce this revolutionary technology in Haiti. Today Digicel renews its commitment to working with them to further develop mobile money services that will benefit the economy and improve safety for all financial resources of the Haitian population.
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Since its implementation, there are nearly ten years, Digicel Group Limited has over 11 million subscribers across its various telecommunications networks installed in 31 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific. The general public recognizes and appreciates that the company offers better prices, better service and has the best telecommunications network.
Digicel is the lead sponsor of sports teams in the countries of the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific including those participating in the Special Olympics held in these regions. Digicel is financing the West Indies Cricket Team and is also the main sponsor of the Digicel Cup in the Caribbean. In the Pacific, Digicel sponsors several national rugby teams and the cricket team Vanuatu. Digicel maintains a series of community initiatives in different countries where the company installed telecommunications networks such as the Digicel Foundation in Jamaica, Haiti and Papua New Guinea. One objective of the Digicel Foundation is to develop programs focused on education, culture and social development.
In 2004, Digicel has organized the Digicel Rising Stars - a talent contest for young musicians in different countries of the Caribbean. The talent competition was organized in the countries of the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago is a very high level of competition.
Digicel is incorporated in Bermuda and provides services in the following countries: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, El Salvador, Fiji, Guyana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Nauru, Panama, Papua / New Guinea, Samoa, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands and Vanuatu. Digicel also serves St. Martin and St. Barts in the Caribbean. Www.digicelgroup.com consult for additional information.
Related 04.02.2012: Haiti: Digicel Group Acquires VoilÃ
Related 03.03.2012: Haiti: First Money Transfers by Mobile Phone
