Mobile Phone Airtime - A Virtual Currency in Nigeria - Mobile Africa http://www.mobileafrica.net/a84.htm

1 of 5 17/07/2007 15:40

Mobile Phone Airtime - A Virtual Currency in Nigeria byOlusola Oyewola2007-01-11 14:08:56 | viewed 2999 times

We will continue to count our blessings as far as mobile telephonyis concerned, this is because never has development beenbrought quickly by any previous technology-based product likethe mobile phone is doing in Nigeria and equally the rest of Africa.Along side the introduction of mobile phone, came the use ofairtime as an access for user to be able to get connected to therest of the rest of word. Little did most people know that airtimewould revolutionize the way they support their families. Airtimehas now become one of the commonest means and secured waysof transferring money.

This innovative use of airtime by mobilephone users has become a good means ofproviding the average Nigerians, and tosome large extent average Africans, witha more secure way of transferring moneyto their relatives. Many poor people donot have bank accounts, as a resultsending money through a bank is usuallyslow, painstaking and often an expensiveprocess. Other means of sending moneyare equally risky and the transfer fee isalways very high. The use of airtime hasovercome these and many otherproblems encountered when sending

money through these channels.

Most people who wish to send money home now do so throughthe use of this medium. They simply buy airtime of the requiredamount at a local shop, and send the code via text message totheir relatives. They in turn sell this code to local merchants whoexchange the code for cash. Imagine the simplicity of doing this,just a matter of minutes they are able to receive money sent tothem and consequently attend to their needs and immediateexpenses. There is no time lost as found in the bureaucracy of thebanking system and other methods of transferring money.

In Nigeria today, virtually every phone user is a potentialbusinessman with the introduction of airtime transfer system byGSM operators offered to prepaid subscribers. If you have excessairtime on your mobile phone, it can easily be exchanged for cash

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Mobile Phone Airtime - A Virtual Currency in Nigeria - Mobile Africa http://www.mobileafrica.net/a84.htm

2 of 5 17/07/2007 15:40

with someone who need such airtime to be able to place somecalls. One interesting issue about this process is that it does notattract any additional charge and it involves a very simple methodof using code in exchange of such amount of airtime. Manysubscribers have already indulged in this opportunity for obviousreasons. Parents who wish to send few amount urgently to theirchildren at school could easily do so without undergoingunnecessary stress and will afford them the opportunity of savinguseful time. Lovers could share airtime and catch up with eachother while still some distance away and so the spirit oftogetherness continues to flow.

Although, the process may not be fit for transfer of huge amount,the poor seem to find the process agreeable because they havebeen “unbanked” for so long and also their immediate financialrequirement does not really involve large some of money. It isbelieved that if the system is well upgraded, it can stand as one ofthe strongest means of financial transaction in Africa particularlyamong the poor who had been left behind in the banking andfinancial systems.

While we will continue to enjoy the benefits of spending thisvirtual currency, it is hoped that operators of mobile phone inAfrica and the professionals of the banking sector will collaborateand bring about an innovation that will upsurge the use of airtimeas one of the basic transaction means. Who knows, it might bethe open gate to the use of credit card by ordinary people.

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The author, Olusola Oyewola, is a subscriber of one of thecellular networks in Nigeria, and until very recently, a student ofFederal University of Technology, Akure in Nigeria.

Editor's note: Mobile Banking solutions like Glo M-Banking(Nigeria), Wizzit Bank (South Africa), Standard Trust BankTextMeCash (Ghana) amongst many others. Mobile Africa will bedoing a country-by-country analysis, very soon.

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