Telecom Lead Asia: Digicel Pacific is deploying biometric
enabled payment systems into stores in New Zealand.
With this, Digicel Mobile Money users can use a
convenient way to send money home to the Pacific.
The new system enables customers sending money home to
register once and record their fingerprint as permanent identification within
the Digicel system. Existing customers scan their fingerprint at the
VeriFone terminal to retrieve their details and make a new transaction – even
if they registered at another store.
Regulators in New Zealand require that photo ID is
recorded each time an international money transfer is made in order to satisfy
Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. The new fingerprint technology
avoids the need for customers to provide identification each time they transact
which means no forms to fill in and less time spent at the counter.
“KYC is an important requirement, but it takes time
and means that customers must bring photo ID with them every time they want to
send money. We set out to deliver a service that dramatically improved
the speed and convenience for our customers and I am delighted that we have
achieved our objective. Our new service is now the fastest way to send
money to the Pacific,” said Darren McLean, regional commercial director at
Digicel Pacific.
“When you add in Bill Payments, Top Up, the speed
and the lowest send money fees in the market, we have a very smart product that
addresses a real need in the community. This month, we also provided
shops in Tonga with VeriFone contactless payment terminals so families can use
their transfers instantly to buy groceries, pay bills, or top up – they don’t
have to travel to get their money out anymore,” McLean added.
Digicel Mobile Money turns a subscriber’s mobile phone
into a wallet, enabling them to store money, send money to each other, pay
bills and top up with airtime. Last year Digicel launched a web-based
extension to the service to enable customers in New Zealand and Australia to
instantly send money home to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Earlier this month Digicel partnered with VeriFone
mWallet to introduce Beep and Go, the world’s first fully inclusive NFC service
in the Kingdom of Tonga. Using NFC tags linked to mobile numbers and
contactless payment devices, Digicel customers are able to pay for goods with a
simple tap of their phone at 50 merchants in the capital of Nuku’alofa.