Libyan mobile operators test new NFC solution from Nokia Siemens Networks and MoreMagic

LPTIC (Libya Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Holding Company) has begun a four month NFC payments trial, in conjunction with Al Madar and Libyana, the country’s two leading mobile operators.

After the trial, LPTIC plans to extend mobile payments as a service to all mobile operators across Libya, to provide consumers with easy, secure and convenient access to basic financial services and to NFC based proximity payments.

LPTIC is using a mobile payments solution jointly developed by Nokia Siemens Networks and MoreMagic Solutions. The two companies announced a global partnership at the Mobile World Congress this week to provide mobile commerce and financial services, including money transfer, mobile banking, mobile payments and near field communication payments.

“The joint Mobile Payment Solution interconnects consumers, mobile operators, financial institutions, retailers, agents and other members of the mobile commerce and financial services value chain to enable seamless monetary transactions,” say the two companies. “The approach is particularly attractive for developing markets where fewer people have access to bank and credit cards to transfer money.”

“We are delighted to bring state-of-the-art mobile payments technologies to Libya through internationally recognized partners,” says Dr Samir Elbuni, CEO of LPTIC. “We believe that the market is primed for such a solution and we expect a huge acceptance in the market by mobile-savvy consumers.”

“Our partnership with MoreMagic provides us with a flexible architecture that integrates very well with our flagship products,” explains Nokia Siemens Networks’ Rick Centeno. “The combination of MoreMagic solutions with Nokia Siemens Networks’ integrated Subscriber Data Management, Identity Management and Unified Charging provides a comprehensive set of Mobile Payment Solutions in this innovative market segment.”

“Mobile commerce and financial services present some of the most exciting opportunities available today which are totally revolutionizing the way people interact with cash and manage their finances,” adds Pankaj Gulati, CEO of MoreMagic. “We are delighted to be partnering with Nokia Siemens Networks and look forward to the evolution of mobile payment services.”

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One comment on this article

  1. After the events in Egypt when the Internet and banks were shut down by the government, we cannot ignore this risk when it comes to NFC solutions in countries like Libya.

    How can we sell a NFC solution that will be highly risk to being disabled by the government? What if people had all of their money tied up in m-commrce or merchants relied too heavily on contactless NFC payments?

    This comes back to what I stated months ago about our initiative in poor urban areas in the USA – we decided to build out our own wi-fi networks covering a commercial sector to process NFC and other mobile payments. This way, if the public Internet is shut down, we still can perform NFC and mobile payments through our private wireless channel.

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