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Dubai based Ducont launches mPayments in Nigeria
November 2, 2002 – the albassera project

Dubai based Ducont, which developed a range Banking applications that use WAP and Internet technology, has turned its attention to towards Africa aligning with the Nigerian IT company Future Technology Systems.

The use of Mobile based payment services has already become quite popular in the region, where the technology is seen as a means to combat the high incidence of cash related crime. During the launch in Lagos last week, Ducont demonstrated its "Bank.companion" and "Micropayment" solutions to a number of the country's banks and, not surprisingly, captured the attention of attendees with their mobile and WAP based applications.

Ducont's products can use a combination of Internet, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Short Messaging Services (SMS) and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) to provide a multi-channel delivery system that interfaces with a bank's existing core system. Originally developed with the Middle East banking sector in mind, the company's product set was first released early last year.

Cash is still the predominate form of payment in many parts of Africa and is seen as the ideal market for mobile phone based micropayments. In Nigeria, First Atlantic Bank has already implemented a mobile payment system where its customers pay merchants and each other using SMS messages passed through the bank.