Zain Jordan signs up 4,500 for mobile banking service

Zain Jordan’s new mobile banking service has attracted over 4,500 users in less than two months. The mobile operator, which introduced the service in late January, expects to attract 50,000 users by the end of 2011. The service, called E-mal, enables users to make money transfers to individuals across the country by sending a SMS with a certain amount of money to another Zain subscriber, who can cash it out from any of Zain’s over 12,000 dealers and sub-dealers across Jordan. The service, enabled through any type of mobile device, enables its users to top up their balances as well. Before the end of 2011, users will be able to pay their water, traffic and electricity bills and make international money transfers using their mobile devices without the need to have a bank account, said Mona Qaddoumi, commerce manager at Zain Jordan. At the first stage, users will be able to transfer money to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Philippines. The service will expand to other countries in the future. Users will be able to pay for other government services by the end of the year including taxes and real estate fees. Zain Jordan signed a deal with a local bank and the Central Bank of Jordan last year to introduce the service. Users will also be provided with a debit card, which they can use at over 7,000 points of sales in the country. Sources at Umniah told The Jordan Times that it is working on providing a similar service.