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The Issue of Interoperability
by Abeba Taddese, Program Officer at R4D
For a health program manager exploring mobile payment solutions to reimburse health vouchers, provide cash incentives to pregnant mothers, or pay health worker salaries, among other potential applications, challenges surrounding the delivery of bulk payments to beneficiaries who belong to different mobile networks, can pose a huge barrier to program implementation and uptake. Interconnection between payment platforms (also known as platform to platform interoperability) would facilitate payments across networks much the same way that it allows us to send text messages to friends and family on different mobile network carriers.
As countries continue to explore the issue of platform interoperability, organizations and programs are finding different ways to transact with beneficiaries across multiple networks. Some have gone the route of issuing designated SIM cards for receiving payments or requiring beneficiaries to purchase a SIM card for the preferred payment network, which can introduce many operational challenges as described in this blog by Chrissy Martin.
Other programs are turning to innovative third party providers (also referred to as aggregators) for sending and receiving payments to and from multiple network providers, as highlighted in this December 2013 webinar on mobile money interoperability hosted by NetHope. Examples of third party providers include Selcom in Tanzania, and Yo! Payments in Uganda. The webinar also features a presentation from John Snow Inc. (JSI) Tanzania on their decision to use a third party aggregator to facilitate bulk payments to training participants on multiple networks.
We spoke with Gerald Begumisa, of Yo! Payments to learn more about third party payment solutions for different sectors in Uganda, including health.
Q&A with Gerald Begumisa, Yo Uganda Limited
Yo Uganda Limited was founded in 2006. In 2011 Yo Uganda Limited launched a new service called Yo! Payments, with the aim of catalyzing mobile money use in Uganda, and beyond. Yo! Payments enables organizations to securely, conveniently and centrally manage mobile money payments in an interoperable way.
- What does Yo! Payments do? What services does it offer, and who are your clients? Yo! Payments is a third-party provider that allows companies to integrate mobile money solutions into their systems to better manage and streamline cash transactions. Yo! Payments is an aggregator – we work across several mobile operator networks – so by working with us, our clients can access mobile money technologies offered by various mobile network operators. We help our clients rapidly establish systems to use mobile money (since they don’t have to establish a contract with a MNO) and we facilitate interoperability across mobile money programs.
- What does the landscape for mobile money in health look like in Uganda? We’re beginning to see heightened interest and increasing adoption of mobile money in health, but the market remains largely untapped in Uganda. Recently, some hospitals and other health providers began accepting payments via mobile money, and I believe that some insurance companies (life insurance, and possibly health insurance) use mobile payments to collect premiums and to send payments to providers.
To learn more, read the full feature HERE.
For any questions related to Yo! Payments, email Gerald Begumisa (gbegumisa@yo.co.ug)
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