Telenor said it opened its first wholly-owned financial institution Telenor banka in Serbia to offer mobile banking services.
In Serbia, some 80 percent of transactions are currently performed in cash. The online bank is set to encourage more consumers of the nation of 7 million people, to save via bank accounts, build credit histories, and pay for transactions digitally versus cash.
“Mobile financial services are key to our Internet for All strategy. The mobile phone is the essence to simpler money transfers, readily accessible savings accounts, new methods of bill payment and even insurance products,” said Telenor Group President and Chief Executive Officer Jon Fredrik Baksaas.
Kjell-Morten Johnsen, EVP and head of Region Europe, said the group is currently also evaluating the establishment of financial services in other Telenor markets in Europe.
Telenor Group, which entered Serbia in 2006, bought KBC Banka in 2013. The telecom operator entered the mobile financial services industry in 1999.
Telenor co-owns Pakistan’s Easypaisa service, the third largest mobile money deployment in the world.
Easypaisa, a venture between Tameer Microfinance Bank and Telenor, today serves over 6 million customers every month through a network of 30,000 agents in 700 cities across Pakistan.
In Norway, Telenor is in partnership with local banks driving the mobile wallet and cashless payment Valyou and the mobile BankID solution.
