Etisalat launches mobile bill payments in Afghanistan

Emirates telco Etisalat and Afghan energy supplier Da
Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) have signed a deal to allow
consumers to pay electricity bills by SMS-based mobile
payments.

With this partnership Etisalat, one of the four private telcos
operating in the country, makes its mobile payment platform
available to DABS’s 300,000 costumers in Kabul.

The service will bring about enhanced convenience as it will
greatly ease bill payments for
Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat’s 300,000 customers in Kabul, by
enabling customers to pay their bills using their mobile
phones.

More than $1.8 billion was transferred in 2011 across Etisalat’s
platform in the UAE, the company reported last month.

According to the company, customers can now choose between
paying their bills at Etisalat stores, or via their mobile phones
using an SMS text message.

“This latest development in Afghanistan is further proof of how
we are using innovation to change people’s lives for the better”
said Essa al Haddad, chief marketing officer at Etisalat Group.

He added:

“Our Mobile Commerce platform provides services to the un-banked
and under-banked in the emerging markets. It’s the device that
bridges the digital divide, catalysing growth”