05 May 2009

Infotechnology Solutions chooses Clickatell to deliver text banking; 15 million messages to be sent per month, expected to grow

Read Time: 3 minutes

As banks around the world continue to benefit from interactive text alerts to reduce fraud, reduce call center costs, and ultimately increase revenue, Infotechnology Solutions has chosen Clickatell to offer interactive text alerts to banking customers in Nigeria - one of the fastest growing African economies. Banks can offer customers real time SMS alerts with every transaction, giving customers immediate knowledge of account movement on their cards. Using Infotechnology's new solution, named MoneyGuard, customers have the ability to immediately respond to alerts on transactions considered fraudulent.

It takes an average of two weeks after a "stop" request is made before a card is blocked - and it only takes a few hours to empty an account. With MoneyGuard powered by Clickatell SMS, it takes only minutes to effectively block a card. This solution arms cardholders with the ability to respond interactively and in real-time. The Moneyguard product was delivered by Spectrum Message Services Pty Ltd from Australia and customised in conjunction with InfoTechnology from Nigeria, and has proven success in countries like Hungary where card fraud has been reduced to 0.0022%, one of the lowest in the world.

"Banking customers automatically receive text alerts on transactions in near real-time and can determine immediately if the transaction was authorized by themselves. If it is considered fraudulent, customers can immediately respond by sending an SMS to block the card from then on. Imagine the vast reduction in fraud by combining the freedom of mobile phones and the immediacy of text messaging," commented Abiodun Adesina, CEO of Tripplea Group, Inc; Infotechnology's holding company. "Having an established track record among the strongest global financial companies, Clickatell came highly recommended by financial and mobile experts from around the world. With the ability to send more than 15 million messages per month, our banking customers are pleased with the speed and quality of this innovative real-time solution during the pilot recently concluded by several banks in the country."

Mobile banking is fast becoming a greater contributor to the economy as mobile payments drive additional subscribers to mobile providers. Pyramid Research identifies Nigeria as the largest and fastest growing market on the African continent and has over 61 million of the 4 billion global GSM lines. In 2008, Nigeria's mobile market experienced a CAGR of over 5.7% ranking them as one of the top 10 mobile countries in the world.

"Mobility is driving economic, financial and social change throughout the world, especially in emerging markets like Africa," said Pieter de Villiers, Clickatell CEO. "With continued shifts in the global economic system, people want even more direct involvement in and control over their finances. We look forward to working with Infotechnology's banking customers and further participate in the tremendous growth as leading banks continue to deploy text banking."

About Clickatell

We create a better world through technology, making commerce in chat accessible for everyone, everywhere. Consumers can now connect with brands to find goods and services, make purchases, track orders, and resolve issues with a simple text or chat. No need for cash, phone calls, in-person interactions, or apps. Founded in 2000 with now over 10,000 customers, Clickatell is powering the digital commerce transformation. Clickatell is headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA and has offices in Canada, South Africa, and Nigeria (www.clickatell.com).

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