BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, today announced that MTN Middle-East and North Africa (MTN MENA) has selected its SIM-based security solution to launch mobile financial services in five countries. MTN MENA is part of the MTN Group, which serves over 100 million subscribers in Africa and the Middle East, including 30 million in the latter region. Gemalto worked in close cooperation with Fundamo, a leading mobile financial services provider, to jointly supply the complete solution for the MTN MobileMoney service.

The MTN MobileMoney service will enable MTN MENA to offer their subscribers a wide variety of financial services including money transfer, mobile payment and balance checking, mobile purchases, as well as the ability to buy airtime in real-time. MTN MobileMoney’s user friendly interface makes it simple and convenient for subscribers to enjoy financial services featuring simple menus and multiple language options, including English and a number of local languages.

For several years, Gemalto and Fundamo have worked together to provide optimal SIM-based solutions for mobile financial applications. SIM-based technology guarantees the highest level of security available for transactions through end-to-end encryption and offers subscribers the freedom to use the service from any type of handset by simply swapping out the SIM card.

“Our cooperation with Gemalto and Fundamo has been an incredibly positive experience in terms of product quality, project management, and support in general,” commented Jamal Ramadan, Vice President of MTN MENA. “We look forward to our continued work with Gemalto and Fundamo. Collaboratively, we will bring new levels of innovation, security and convenience to both mature and emerging markets.”

“Gemalto is proud to work with MTN MENA for the first SIM-based mobile banking solution in the Middle-East and North Africa,” added Philippe Vallée, Executive Vice President of the Telecommunications Business Unit at Gemalto. “Since our solution is compatible will all handsets, MTN MENA subscribers can immediately enjoy the convenience of transferring money when and where they want, with the security provided by the SIM card.”

“Working closely with market leaders such as MTN and Gemalto reinforces Fundamo’s position at the forefront of one of the world’s fastest-growing and dynamic wireless markets - set to be worth USD 65 billion by 2014*,” said Hannes van Rensburg, CEO of Fundamo. “Fundamo’s platform is built to evolve with the needs of mobile subscribers to deliver increasingly compelling, tailored and differentiated mobile financial services as the market matures.”

* Juniper Research, January 2010

Visit the Gemalto stand, 8A102, at the Mobile World Congress, 15-18 February 2010.

More info: http://www.gemalto.com/telecom/linqus/mobile_banking.html

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the world leader in digital security with 2008 annual revenues of €1.68 billion, and 10,000 employees operating out of 75 offices, research and service centers in 40 countries.

Gemalto is at the heart of our evolving digital society. The freedom to communicate, travel, shop, bank, entertain, and work—anytime, anywhere—has become an integral part of what people want and expect, in ways that are convenient, enjoyable and secure.

Gemalto delivers on the growing demands of billions of people worldwide for mobile connectivity, identity and data protection, credit card safety, health and transportation services, e-government and national security. We do this by supplying to governments, wireless operators, banks and enterprises a wide range of secure personal devices, such as subscriber identification modules (SIM), Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) in mobile phones, smart banking cards, smart card access badges, electronic passports, and USB tokens for online identity protection. To complete the solution we also provide software, systems and services to help our customers achieve their goals.

As the use of Gemalto’s software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.

For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.

Gemalto
Rémi Calvet
T.: +33 (0) 1 55 01 64 10
M.: +33 (0) 6 22 72 81 58
remi.calvet@gemalto.com
or
Aline Borne
T.: +33 (0)1 55 01 51 05
M.:+33 (0)6 16 29 87 04
aline.borne@gemalto.com