Mobile Money Africa

Interview with Sibyl Lindsay
XIPWIRE
VP of Sales and Marketing
www.xipwire.com

MMA: Share XIPWIRE’s background?

XIPWIRE was founded by Sharif Alexandre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Sharif has been in the IT world for 15 years working for companies such as MTV, Sprint and Lockheed Martin. Watching the rest of the world embrace mobile payments Sharif decided that he wanted to bring the technology to his home city of Philadelphia.

MMA: Congratulations on the launch of XIPWIRE, Please share with Africans what influenced your decisions to launch a mobile payment platform.

Mobile payments are common place around the world except in the United States. For as much as American’s depend on their phones it is surprising we have not been earlier adopters of the technology. XIPWIRE feels the technology is at a tipping point in the United States and Americans are finally ready to have their phones be both their communication life line and their wallet.
At XIPWIRE we also recognize that too many Americans are un- or underbanked. We wanted to create a service that provided everyone easy and convenient access to their money without the penalty of high fees.
XIPWIRE wants to support its community of small business owners and non-profits by offering them the lowest fee per transaction available. Consumers do not understand the impact credit card fees have on a business. Our goal is to help organizations keep their money where it belongs…in their pockets.

MMA:XIPWIRE is a combo of mobile and online, what are the core advantage of each channel using XIPWIRE?

XIPWIRE is all about convenient access to your money. Whether a XIPWIRE user is in front of a computer or is on the go with their mobile phone their money is at their finger tips.
With their mobile phone a XIPWIRE user can initiate a payment and receive cash from anywhere at any time. With time being a luxury these days XIPWIRE users have the ability to manage their money when it suits their schedule.
XIPWIRE.com offers users the ability to send and receive money but in a more content rich experience. With complete access to their XIPWIRE account users can review their transaction history, manage various accounts and transfer funds in and out of their XIPWIRE Wallet.
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MMA: Simple and secured SMS seems to be the application of choice for most successful MMT projects in Africa. Is it same reason here?

XIPWIRE operates with a SMS code because it is universal protocol that can be securely used on almost any mobile phone. Text messages also offer a more resilient safeguard against network disruptions. Even if the mobile providers system is down the technology will keep trying to send the message on your behalf until it is successful. Another reason why receiving and sending money via text message is a natural choice because it requires no software and no training to use.

MMA:Millions of Africans are actively unbanked, how will your technology help them access formal financial services?

While XIPWIRE is not a bank it can enable access to an electronic financial infastructure. A XIPWIRE user is able to receive electronic paychecks, pay bills, send and receive money to family and friends and pay for goods and services both on-line and in their community.
XIPWIRE also allows merchants to offer XIPXCHANGE services. (XIPXCHANGE is a revenue generating opportunity for merchant to fund XIPWIRE accounts.)

MMA:Mobile operators seems to be more aggressive in the MMT space in Africa, are you open to work with them or the financial institutions?

XIPWIRE was designed to work with mobile operators as well as financial institutions. We are particularly interested in working with financial intuitions to mobile enable the accounts of their existing customers. This includes everything from doing a simple balance check to both person-to-person (P2P) and consumer to business (C2B) transactions.

MMA:Educate us on devices that can use the service?

XIPWIRE is not limited to any mobile provider and can work with any mobile phone that can send and receive text messages. Smart Phones that have Internet connectivity will have access to more advanced features of XIPWIRE through its on-line portal.

MMA:Security?

When it comes to security, our philosophy is to use a layered approach to guard against both unauthorized access and potential fraudulent activity. Each layer applies a combination of industry best practices, industrial strength encryption and sophisticated software to ultimately create a series of “firewalls” that protect the integrity and privacy of your data.
More details on out security can be found at: https://xipwire.com/security
The Anonymous XIP ID feature is for XIPWIRE users that would like to make purchases but do not want to give out their XIP ID or mobile number. XIPWIRE users can text: “ID” to 56624 (XIPWIRE’s mobile number) and they will instantly get a temporary code that is good for 15 minutes and only one purchase.
XIPWIRE users can also increase the limit of their XIPWIRE wallets by uploading a security photo that can be reviewed by the merchant during a transaction. At XIPWIRE we focus on protecting both the user and our XIPWIRE merchants.

MMA:Plans for Africa in future and what should Africans expects?

We would like to work with the current providers and financial institutions to expand the reach of mobile financial services to all Africans.

www.xipwire.com