Luup International Ltd., a leading mobile payments solutions provider of Norwegian origin, and Emirates International Exchange (EIE), a leading exchange house in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), today signed an Agreement to roll-out a mobile phone based payroll solution. It will enable migrant and local workers’ wages to be paid onto a mobile wallet or a mobile-enabled payroll card. The mobile wallet and card holder will then be able to withdraw cash at EIE locations in the UAE and make mobile remittance transactions through the Luup mobile remittance gateway.
The signing ceremony was held in the presence of HE Trond Giske, Minister of Trade and Industry of Norway and member of the high profile delegation with HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. The delegation is on a two-day visit to strengthen ties between Norway and the UAE.
The global mobile payments market is a huge growth area at present, with research indicating that its value will reach US$ 553 billion (AED 2.029 trillion) by 2013. Moreover, there is the huge potential to reach an estimated 364 million unbanked people, who tend to have access to a mobile phone, by agent-networked mobile banking[1]. In the Middle East alone, businesses such as the EIE can tap into 15 million migrant workers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As these workers remit 50 percent of their salary home, an estimated sum of US$3.195 billion (AED 11.73 billion) a month[2], the revenue potential to be gained by mobile enabling transactions is clear.
