NEWS
Some news of note from friends, partners and clients.
BPR retains top investor award
29 January 2012 - Bank Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) warded off stiff competition from Nakumatt Supermarket to emerge top investor for the second year running in the RDB Business Excellence Awards. (see news article)
ABC's e-Banking Customers Break 200 Million
17 November 2011 - By the end of September 2011, e-Banking customers of Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) reached 240 million with an increase of 85% compared to the same period of 2010, whilst e-Banking businesses accounted for 62.1% of its total businesses, up 7.03% year on year. (see press release)
Launch of NMB Bills Payment
10 November 2011 - NMB has marked another milestone by launching NMB mobile bills payment. Over 550,000 NMB mobile customers will be able to pay DSTV monthly subscription, DAWASCO water bills, Vodacom post-paid and TRA Taxes (property and personal tax). (see press release and photos)
Banque Populaire Launches iZi Cash
10 November 2011 - Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) has launched "iZi Cash", a new service allowing transfers from BPR Mobile Banking to any Rwandan, via BPR ATMs - regarless of whether they have a bank account at all. (see press release and photos)
Banco Terra Launches New Website
07 November 2011 - Following its new branding campaign, launched in early March, Banco Terra has gone live with a new public website. (see press release, in Portugese)
Rabo Mobiel vernieuwt serverpark
26 October 2011 - Article on Rabo Mobiel's new server park refresh, and the status of Rabo Mobiel business after five years of successful operation. (see article, Computable, in Dutch)
BPR Hits 108 Automated Branches, Sub-Branches, Outlets
22 September 2011 - Banque Populaire du Rwanda's "Columbus Project" is well on-target, achieving 108/191 automated branches in September 2011. The project plans to move the BPR branch network from ~50 automated branches in early 2011 to 100% automation in just over 12 months. (see press release)
ZANACO open up Banking Services at 123 ZAMPOST locations countrywide
20 September 2011 - ZANACO Bank Plc will this year roll out Zanaco express service to 123 Zampost locations countrywide, a development that will allow new bank customers in rural areas to access its services through the Xapit account. (see press release)
BPR Launches Mobile "Use and Win" Campaign
02 May 2011 - BPR launches a 3-month "Use and Win" camapign for BPR Mobile Banking, which features prizes like television decoders and subscriptions and a new scooter going to the "super winner".
NMB Launches PESAFASTA
01 May 2011 - NMB in Tanzania has launched "PesaFasta" a new money transfer service which allows NMB customers to transfer funds to any Tanzanian, even if they don't ahve a bank account. (see launch announcement).
BPR Wins Best Financial Institution of 2010
23 February 2011 - BPR has won the Rwanda Development Board's annual awards for two categories: "Best Financial Institutoin of the Year: 2010" and "Best Investor: 2010".
BPR Launches on Tigo Network
08 February 2011 - Tigo Rwanda and Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) today, the 2nd of February 2011 officially launched the integration of TIGO on the BPR Mobile Banking platform.
Peter Haug NameD Director Marketing, BMW
03 December 2010 - Takashi Mobile founding partner and consultant, Peter Haug, has accepted a new role as Director Marketing for the BMW Group Nederland. Beginning on 03 January 2011, Peter will lead BMW's marketing efforts. (press release, BMW Groep NL)
BPR Launches Mobile Banking
16 September 2010 - Banque Populaire du Rwanda launches BPR Mobile Banking nation-wide in Rwanda. BPR has begun a full-scale launch promotion for it's new USSD-based mobile banking service enabling balance-checking, mini-statements, transfer, and purchases of electricity, airtime and payments for mobile phone bills, DStv and StarTimes TV (DVB-T). (article, The New Times)
Rabobank, ING, ABN AMRO, KPN, Vodafone, T-Mobile Agree Proximity Payments JV
09 September 2010 - Dutch banks, mobile operators join forces for contactless proximity payments initiative. (article, Paypers in English)
European payments Council (EPC) Whitepaper on Mobile Payments
07 July 2010 - the EPC published a new whitepaper on mobile payments and SEPA today. (download here)
Rabobank: Grote toekomst mobiel bankieren in Afrika
05 July 2010 - Article in the popular Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf looking at Rabobank and mobile banking in it's partner banks in Tanzania and Zambia. (article, in Dutch)
NMB Mobile Launches with Tigo, Zantel
June 2010 - NMB's popular 'NMB mobile' service has launched the next two consumer mobile networks in Tanzania - Tigo and Zantel, bringing the total number of available networks to 4.
BPR Mobile Banking to Launch in Rwanda
May 2010 - Banque Polulaire du Rwanda announces the launch of mobile banking and payments services for the summer of 2010 (article in The New Times)
Rabobank - Mobile Banking via Windows Mobile
May 2010 - Rabobank Nederland releases a Windows Mobile version of Mobielbankieren, in collaboration with Rabo Mobiel (Rabobank's product website, in Dutch)
Rabobank - Mobile Banking via Android
April 2010 - Rabobank Nederland releases an Android version of their popular Mobielbankieren service, in collaboration with Rabo Mobiel (article and interview on Frankwatching and Rabobank's product website, in Dutch)
NMB Mobile Reaches 100.000 Customers
October 2009 - NMB passes the 100.000 active customer mark with their "NMB mobile" banking and payments product in October 2009, two months after launch. (African blog article on NMB)
Rabobank - Mobile Banking via iPhone
Dec 2009 - Rabobank Nederland releases an iPhone and iPod Touch version of their popular Mobielbankieren service, in collaboration with Rabo Mobiel (Rabobank'sproduct website, in Dutch)
NMB Mobile Launches in Tanzania
Aug 2009 - National Microfinance Bank PLC (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) announced the launch of 'NMB mobile' to all customers on Vodacom and ZAIN mobile networks. (NMB website announcement)
NEWS of Note
If you have any news of note, please let us know via our contact page.