The launch will make every cellphone handset in Botswana a potential banking channel.
 
Initially, the service will only be available on the Mascom cellular network, which has approximately 500 000 subscribers. But FNB envisages that the cellphone banking service will also be available via the countrys second cellular mobile operator, Orange, in the near future.
 
FNB Mobile Transact CEO, Len Pienaar, says FNB is excited to be the first SA commercial bank to export its cellphone banking model, buoyed by its nearly 300 000 registered customer base in this country.
 
Pienaar says FNB is confident that its cellphone banking technology can be applied successfully across borders to address one of the key challenges facing developing countries providing convenient access to banking for the previously unbanked.
 
However, he stresses that each country has unique needs and that the venture is being driven by FNB Botswana, together with its mobile partners.
 
Pienaar says FNBs SA cellphone banking foundation provides a solid base for the bank to establish and grow its mobile banking footprint faster in Botswana.
 
The large geographical area and distances in Botswana provide adequate scope for cellphone banking to take off with little or no cannibalisation across channels, says Pienaar.
 
Pienaar predicts that prepaid services will drive the adoption of cellphone banking in Botswana, with about 95% of the countrys cellphone users being prepaid subscribers.