Emerging Markets Payments (EMP), the leading payments processing company in Africa and the Middle East, has announced that it has signed an agreement to provide electronic payment processing services for East Africa Bank. EMP will assist the bank to expand its issuing and acquiring services in the bank’s Djibouti and Somalia operations.

 

EMP’s technology will allow East Africa Bank to greatly increase its offering to customers. With the deal, East Africa Bank now has the capacity to provide issuing services for both debit and prepaid cards, as well as ATM services for key payment schemes. In the future the East Africa Bank plans to offer Sharia Islamic card products.

 

Cardholders will also benefit from increased global usability, and will be able to perform transactions across the world with internationally accepted cards. Customer security will also be bolstered, with cardholders now able to generate their own PINs using EMP’s Self-Generated PIN solution that enables clients to select their own PIN while activating the cards at any of East Africa Bank’s delivery channels such as POS or ATM.

 

EMP adheres to the highest international standards and provides expertise to facilitate issuer participation in MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa programs. EMP is a leader in EMV cards and provides processing services for all major card schemes.

 

“We are happy to partner with EMP to provide our customers with a more effective and efficient electronic payments infrastructure. According to the World Bank, Djibouti has a financial exclusion rate of 87.7 percent, meaning that the overwhelming majority of the one million citizens are unbanked or underbanked. Only 5% of the population in Djibouti currently has a payment card, and the country is heavily dependent on cash. The partnership with EMP will enable East Africa Bank to provide its customers innovative payment options” said Mr. Hirsi Dirir, Chief Executive Officer of East Africa Bank.

 

Commenting on the announcement, Murat Ozulku, Chief Executive Officer of EMP Africa, said: “We are delighted to have secured this new partnership with East Africa Bank, which will give its customers access to secure and convenient technology.”

Adding to the announcement, Wayne Harris, Managing Director of EMP East & Southern Africa, said “East Africa Bank brings EMP its first customer in Djibouti, and we look forward to bringing many EMP products and services to this market”