THISDAYonline

With the commencement of GSM operations in Nigeria, many products and services have been created. One of the most recent which has been making waves in the last two weeks when it was launched is the FlashMe Cash, an electronic money and payment transfer through the GSM phone. When he was launching the new product Thursday June 20, 2002, the Managing Director, First Atlantic Bank, Mr. Femi Pedro, said the product was developed in response to the increasing clamour for an alternative and more acceptable payment system other than cash in the Nigerian economy.

Pedro recalled the efforts of several banks which before now have made numerous "efforts to bridge the settlement gap between service providers and consumers, but most of these solutions come with attendant setbacks chief among which is low patronage..."_All these are however going to be history as he continued, "With the introduction of GSM services in Nigeria, First Atlantic Bank is turning to reality the dream of a cashless Nigeria with a common virtual legal tender."

But the service had started much earlier than the actual launching date according to the Relationship Manager, Internet banking Unit, Mr. Deji Oguntonade. According to him, FlashMe Cash started four months ago. It was culled from another product called Virtual

Airtime Club (VAC). A scheme where customers and

non-customers of the bank buy recharge cards (MTN and

ECONET) by sending short messages (SMS) using their GSM

phone and at the same time, earn themselves eight per cent commission.

He explained that First Atlantic Bank from the onset has a strong flair for technology and this is evidenced by the fact that all

Products and or services offered by the bank leverages on

technology- FirstAtlantic Online (Internet Banking),

FirstAtlantic Mobile (Mobile Banking), Virtual Airtime Club

(VAC) and Flash Me Cash.

He said that the success and acceptance of VAC was very remarkable. The Bank, he pointed out, started to think of ways in which mobile phones could be used as a payment solution in order to take advantage of what he called the GSM craze in the country.

Flash Me Cash, he stated, sprang from here.

What is Flash Me Cash? In simple language, it is a system whereby a person can send money to anybody that owns a GSM phone. Money could also be sent to pay for goods bought and services rendered. The beneficiary need not be an account holder with the bank to enjoy the service though the flasher (person who sends the money) must own an account with the bank and indeed be a member of the club.

How does it work? FlashMe Cash works this way. The Flasher, or the account holder sends an SMS to a number - 0803-304-5335 instructing the bank to pay the recipient whose phone number is included in the SMS a certain amount also included in the text. For trials, it may go this way: Credit (phone number of the beneficiary/recipient) (the amount being sent) (password). Like this: Credit 08033042112 50,000 2222.

As soon as the bank gets the SMS, it sends an SMS to the recipient reading something like: you have been flashed 50,000 by (sender's phone number). Please visit any branch of First Atlantic Bank to claim your money.

Immediately transfer/payment is effected, the sender also gets an SMS from the bank which reads like this: Transfer request of 50,000 to 0803304211 successful.

The system is also used in buying re-charge cards by GSM prepaid packages subscribers. This works just like the case of money transfer with a little variation. The SMS to the bank indicates the card desired, MTN or Econet, then the value, quantity and password. For example: MTN N1500 1 2222. About 25 seconds after the bank receives the request, a, SMS is sent to the customer quoting the secret pin number with which he recharges his phone.

There are other benefits like the COT free transactions, confirmation of account balances and generous discount when the customer buys airtime.

The Relationship Manager explained that the product relies on the SMS functionality of a GSM phone and the SMS network of the two Mobile Service Providers - MTN and Econet.

On whether the system is secured, he assured that it is and listed the security advantages inherent with the product as including a

-combination of transaction ID and password

-SMS/ SIM card security

-Multiple levels of authentication

On what happens if an account holders' password is successfully guessed, he said, "Your mobile phone has now become your purse. It is the responsibility of the owner to keep his/her handset safe.

Transactions cannot be carried out from just any mobile phone. Only one mobile phone number is registered against a Flash Me account and therefore before anyone can flashŒ money, they have to get hold of your phone and password."

When asked how the bank intends to implement the weekend and non-banking hours of the agreement, Oguntonade said, "The Flash Me Service is available 24x7 and is fully automated thus requiring no human intervention."

The FlashMe Cash is envisioned to be widely accepted at some point in future as the ValuCard and other cards around.

But a subscriber must be a member of Flash-Me Club before he could use the facility. Membership costs N10,000. When asked whether this would not affect patronage, the Relationship Manager said that presently, the bank is accepting amounts less than N10, 000 from customers. This is to help encourage them to use the service. The N10, 000 would be implemented at a later stage.

He also disabused the minds customers who fear there may be congestion on the line thereby causing a delay in operations. According to him, the issue of congestion doesn¡t come to play here. The system runs like an office printer where messages are in queues and responses are on a first-come-first-serve basis.

There could also be more than just the 08033045335 number

Traffic is monitored, and as the need for another number arises, customers would be notified. In addition, a message does not on the queue for more than a fraction of a second.