Mobile money transaction platform provider Telepin Software announced that Afghani wireless provider Etisalat Afghanistan has commercially launched its new Mobile Money Services platfrom mHawala based on Telepin's Cayman Transaction platform.

According to the announcement, Etisalat Afghanistan will be offering a full mobile financial services (MFS) offering that includes central bank cooperation, banking ecosystem participation, utility merchant involvement and salary disbursement, and also enables complete mobile banking capabilities and future cross-border money transfers.

"Mobile density in Afghanistan is currently at 50 percent and is growing rapidly. However, 95 percent of Afghanis do not have access to banking infrastructure," said Dr. Ali Asgharzadeh, chief commercial officer-enterprise for Etisalat Afghanistan.

Asgharzadeh added the unique market cross-section in Afghanistan creates a need for the investment we are making in Telepin's Cayman platform and the company can now introduce a much-needed innovative service to the market.

Telepin said its Cayman Transaction platform, which plays an important role in managing and distributing airtime, will be extended with subscriber wallets for MFS services.

Etisalat Afghanistan is the first mobile network operator in Afghanistan to offer the entire range of mobile financial services, the announcement said.

"We understand transactions better than any general value-added services infrastructure vendor and apply this knowledge to forward-thinking operators such at Etisalat Afghanistan," said Telepin CEO Vincent Kadar.

Kadar said Etisalat is responding to the needs of its customers, and that the wireless operator is delivering a best-in-class mobile money solution that will extend value to its mobile subscribers, merchant networks, and ecosystem partners.

Etisalat Afghanistan is a subsidiary of UAE-based Emirates Telecommunications Corporation-ETISALAT. Telepin is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario.

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