Afghan Wireless MyMoney Mobile Banking Solution
Afghan Wireless Communication Company Works With New Kabul Bank, Maiwand Bank, and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance to Distribute Afghan Government Salary Payments Via AWCC’s MyMoney Mobile Banking Solution
Kabul, Afghanistan — 9 March 2015 – Building on its successful MyMoney secure mobile payments initiative, the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) – Afghanistan’s first mobile operator – today announced a joint strategic partnership with New Kabul Bank and Maiwand Bank to work with the Government of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance has agreed with the banks to harness MyMoney’s secure, robust, and traceable mobile payment system to distribute salary payments to Government employees across Afghanistan, including the nation’s most remote areas.
AWCC’s MyMoney biometric system guarantees that only the intended recipient receives the salary payment. The MyMoney solution provides government employees with the ease, convenience, and security of receiving their salary in a timely and transparent manner.
The digital payments project is a result of a partnership between AWCC, the Ministry of Finance, New Kabul Bank, Maiwand Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which provided start-up funding for the project. The mobile payments initiative is part of a broader effort by AWCC, its partner banks and the Government Afghanistan to empower citizens with alternatives to cash, which reduce corruption, improve governance and increase financial and economic security.
The advantages of AWCC’s MyMoney mobile payments solution were reviewed at the press conference announcing the partnership between AWCC and the Ministry of Finance, which was attended by Mr. Mohammad Aqa Kohistani, Afghanistan’s Director General for Treasury; Mr. Shafiq Ahmad Qarizada, Deputy Minister of Policy at the Ministry of Finance, and other government officials.
“Improving payroll distribution to government employees in districts and villages is a big challenge for the government,” said Mr. Mohammad Aqa Kohistani, Afghanistan’s Director General for Treasury. “This is an important initiative toward creating a modern and efficient digital payment network that uses an identification system to promote ease of transactions and help foster broad-based economic growth.”
“And, in a short span of time, we plan to extend this salary disbursement to other provinces and have similar official announcement for each province,” said Mr. Aqa Kohistani. “We will use AWCC’s Merchant & Agent Network wherever New Kabul Bank does not have branches. We will ask other mobile money operators to follow the path of AWCC and do their respective integration with banks who are currently disbursing government salaries.”
“AWCC is proud to be part of this national pilot program to provide Afghan government employees in even the most remote areas of our nation to access their salaries easily, quickly, and transparently,” said Mr. Amin Ramin, Managing Director of Afghan Wireless.
“Our MyMoney system is based on the latest technology which provides the customers with maximum security in a user-friendly fashion, and it is an honor for us to be the first Mobile Money operator to integrate with two major banks,” Mr. Ramin said. “We also hope that this program will help contribute to the nation’s economy as a whole, because more money will be retained in banks and more unbanked employees will become banked and gain instant access to the financial system.”
About Afghan Wireless
Headquartered in Kabul, AWCC serves approximately 4,000,000 subscribers throughout Afghanistan; and is one of the largest employers of Afghans was founded by Ehsan Bayat. AWCC employs over 5,500 people directly and another 100,000 indirectly. AWCC is a leader in delivering wireless and broadband communication solutions to residential and business customers. Additional information is available at www.afghan-wireless.com or through Telephone Systems International (“TSI”) website at www.tsiglobe.com
CONTACT: Alberto Lopez, a.lopez@tsiglobe.com, + 1 917 330 4510
