Orange and Visa announced that Orange Money customers in Africa and the Middle East will soon have access to Visa prepaid account features inside their Orange Money accounts. This update to the service will be introduced in select markets by the end of 2012. By doing so, Orange is connecting existing mobile money subscribers to Visa’s global payment network (VisaNet), which is utilized by 2.2 billion account holders, 30 million merchants and provides access to 1.9 million ATMs globally.
Orange Money already offers person to person transfers, bill payments and agent-based cash-in and cash-out services for loading or withdrawing funds. Launched in cooperation with local bank partners, the service was first introduced in 2008 and is presently available in 8 countries.
Visa introduce Mobile Prepaid in October 2011 to “enhance the security, scale and interoperability of mobile money programs,” by enabling account holders to make person-to-person payments, retail and e-commerce purchases at merchants where Visa is accepted, or withdraw funds at Visa ATMs.