VEON has reported a significant increase in the usage of self-care apps and fintech across ten developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More customers are also choosing home deliveries for SIM cards and mobile phones while new SIM vending machines are also proving popular.

VEON has more than 20 million users of self-care apps. Customers at home are increasingly topping up, buying SIMS and phones and packages through the self-care apps.

MyBeeline has 240,000 more users this month in in Russia. Jazz World has seen an 8 percent increase in monthly usage in recent weeks in Pakistan.

Mobile phone customers are also using SIM vending machines and delivery services. VEON has sold more than 11,000 SIMs in the first week of operating special vending machines in Georgia.

Beeline Russia has launched a small fleet of service and delivery vans in Moscow, to meet demand for SIMs and mobile phones.

VEON is also seeing the adoption of digital services accelerate in some countries. In turn, this acceleration of technological advancement has the potential to change the way countries use and interact with telecommunications services in the future.

Beeline is accelerating digital services and has released specific products in Russia. COVID-19 Insurance offered 100 percent through digital channels, with over 500 policies issued in the first 12 hours of launch.

Jazz has added close to 700,000 monthly active users to its wallet proposition on JazzCash in Pakistan and expects to see approximately 50 percent increase in mobile wallets.

Kaan Terzioglu and Sergi Herrero, VEON’s co-chief executives, said, “Our customers are adapting fast to remote working and we expect this trend to continue even after the current crisis passes. Similarly, the growing home use of digital education and entertainment services resulting from containment measures is a behavioural change we expect will outlive the current pandemic.”