Dialog, NDB Bank pioneer mobile payments

Dialog Telekom, together with NDB Bank, yesterday unveiled eZ Pay, South Asia’s first mCommerce (Mobile Commerce) initiative, that allows consumers to purchase goods, pay bills, transfer money and perform banking transactions via their mobile phones.

Themed “mPowering a New Economy” eZ Pay is set to add a revolutionary and consumer centric dimension to inclusive banking in Sri Lanka.

The Dialog-NDB Bank mobile commerce network will empower consumers with the ability to carry out a variety of electronic transactions using their mobile phone from anywhere within Dialog GSM’s network coverage.

The technology also facilitates the transformation of merchants and retailers (of varying size and scale) into electronic payment acceptance points and mini-banking points.

The facilitation of electronic transactions at the smallest of retail stores across the country is expected to create and nurture an all new wave of grass-root banking.

The eZ Pay concept has been brought to fruition through the joint efforts of Dialog Telekom and NDB Bank, institutions committed to pluralising access to the benefits and facilities accruing from their respective products and technologies.

“On rare occasions the power of technology combines with economic forces to transform society,” Chief Executive of NDB Bank, Nihal Welikala said.

“The impact of the mobile phone on the banking industry has the potential over time, to bring about fundamental change, to transform the way we do business, and with whom. It has the power to bring banking to the under-banked, to whoever owns a mobile phone, and at almost any location.

“Speaking at the inauguration of the service, Chief Executive, Dialog Telekom Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said “We are happy to partner NDB Bank in bringing the region’s first mobile commerce initiative to commercial operation,” he said.

Dialog customers desiring to avail themselves of eZ Pay facilities can replace their existing SIM with an eZ Pay enabled one free, at any Dialog Service Centre, franchise outlet or Dialog Arcade, provided they sign on for the service prior to October 31, 2007. Many hundreds of outlets within the Western Province have already joined the eZ Pay merchant network.