Telco Orange has joined with bancassurance outfit NSIA to launch Orange Bank Africa, catering to the needs of the Continent’s financially underserved.
Launching initially in Abidjan and Côte d’Ivoire, Orange Bank Africa will offer clients a range of simple savings and credit services, allowing customers to borrow as little as 5,000 CFA francs instantly using their mobile phone.
Orange chairman and CEO, Stéphane Richard, said, “New technology is needed to strengthen financial inclusion and support economic development, as proven by mobile money over the past few years. Banking is a new area of business for Orange in Africa.
“Based on our association with NSIA, also a leader on the market in Africa, we provide easy access to bank services for as many people as possible, with simple and essential services that benefit all our clients.”
He said the app-based bank has identified Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso as the next markets for expansion.
Jean Kacou Diagou, CEO of NSIA, added, “I am very pleased that the partnership between Orange and NSIA has resulted in the creation of Orange Bank Africa.
“For the past 25 years, NSIA Group has been developing bank and insurance solutions to address the needs of African people and make them available to as many people as possible.
“We know that electronic banking is vital for the financial inclusion of our customers. We are proud to have combined our expertise and human capital with that of Orange to create the fully digital Orange Bank Africa.”
The firm is using a SaaS technology backbone from Temenos running on Microsoft Azure to enable it to scale as it moves into new territories.
Having played an essential part in financial transactions for several years now, Orange Money and digital services became even more important and more rapidly adopted by users during the health crisis.
With this in mind, Orange believes that mobile banking has an important role to play in Africa. It is the very essence of Orange’s purpose of providing everyone with the keys to a responsible digital world.
