The Central Bank of Afghanistan announced that M-Paisa, the mobile banking product introduced by Afghan telecommunications provider Roshan in partnership with Vodafone Group PLC, has received the country's first electronic money institution (EMI) license.

"Today, we are pleased to extend Afghanistan's first electronic money institution (EMI) license to M-Paisa, a pioneer in mobile money. The issuance of this license is an important step forward for the financial system in Afghanistan, and in providing transparent ways to conduct financial transactions," said His Excellency Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, Governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan.

M-Paisa has been operating under a separate Money Service Provider (MSP) license since 2008. The new licensing was introduced to meet the growing demand for mobile money services in Afghanistan. According to the announcement, the new EMI license will further ensure that customers, agents and partners are protected.

"Since inception, our vision has been to harness the power of mobile technology to complement and build Afghanistan's infrastructure and provide innovative solutions to foster community development," Roshan CEO Karim Khoja said. "Our view is that Roshan and M-Paisa will be an enabler to increase financial inclusion for all Afghans. This license is an important milestone for the financial system, and country as a whole"

Since its initial launch in 2008, M-Paisa has helped create a network for the transparent movement of money across Afghanistan. The system offers safe and secure access to a range of financial services including receipt and payment of microfinance loans, peer-to-peer fund transfer, salary disbursement, purchase of airtime and bill payments to the huge number of unbanked consumers in Afghanistan.

Customers of M-Paisa can access the services using a mobile phone through SMS text or an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The IVR-based system is available to customers in Dari, Pashto and English, and provides an important link to the 70 percent of the population that is illiterate.