Nairobi---Orange
has partnered with PesaPal – an e-commerce payment platform provider – to
enable its customers enjoy the convenience of virtual airtime top ups.
Through the
service, customers will be able to make an online purchase of Orange airtime;
choosing a preferred mode of payment – either via PesaPal’s e-wallet, credit
and debit cards (VISA and Master Card) or through mobile money transfer
solutions.
Company CEO
Mickael Ghossein said that Orange is taking a differentiated approach on
airtime top-up; supplementing the conventional airtime distribution channels
with the convenience and benefits of online payments and electronic airtime
distribution.
“The service
aims to grow our airtime distribution by leveraging on existing e-commerce
platforms,” said Ghossein, adding that the new top-up service aims to
facilitate Orange data customers, who have their voice lines with alternative
operators, to top up directly from their respective mobile money accounts.
“Our data
customers that may have subscribed to other networks due to their voice
offerings will now have the flexibility of purchasing data bundles directly
from their mobile money accounts,” he said, adding that this was informed by
the fact that Kenya’s mobile telecoms market is characterised by multi-SIM
users, with subscribers using different SIM cards from various networks for
different services such as voice and data.
PesaPal CEO
Agosta Liko said that Orange and PesaPal have a strategic partnership on the
technical solution and distribution modes for Orange Airtime.
“The service
is easy to use allowing the customer convenient access as well as a simplified
means of topping up their airtime,” he said.
A customer can make the
online airtime purchase through three sites: https://myaccount.orange.co.ke;
www.orange.co.ke and
https://www.pesapal.com;
“A
step-by-step guide is available for each payment mode selected,” noted Liko,
adding that the customer will receive an SMS notification confirming the top
up.
The online payments deal is also
intended to extend to the payment of other product and service offerings from
Orange.
The
Orange/PesaPal deal is further testimony to the crucial role mobile money
solutions play in enhancing business transactions, as stated by the
Communications Commission of Kenya, Fourth Quarter Industry statistics,
released in October 2012, noting a 2.73 per cent growth in mobile money
transfer service subscriptions, from 18.98 million recorded the previous
quarter to 19.50 million.
