UAE-based Etisalat’s mobile commerce offering, which is bringing financial services to millions of customers across MEA and Asia, has been shortlisted for an award by the Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.

The Etisalat commerce programme, Flous – money, in Arabic – was named as a finalist this week in the technology in sustainable finance category of the 2013 Global Sustainable Finance Awards.

Flous represents the most comprehensive mobile banking service and already provides millions of people with access to banking for the very first time, a statement from the company said. Etisalat provides customers with increased security and flexibility, reducing the need to carry cash and ensuring payments between friends and family remain secure.

“We believe this service has the potential to transform the way we handle and manage money and the benefits to our customers will be immense,” said Khalifa Al Shamsi, Etisalat group’s chief digital services officer. “Mobile phones have already improved life in so many ways; it is exciting to think that they have the potential to replace notes and coins and give all of our customers world-class financial services.”

Flous enables customers to conduct financial transactions, such as utility, merchant and salary payments, domestic and international transfers, online purchasing, cash collection, bank transactions and ticketing, with their mobile phones, the statement said.

The competition, held by the Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, recognises financial institutions that are integrating environmental, social and corporate governance considerations into their businesses and highlights partnerships with non-financial companies to find innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges.

Earlier this year, Flous was recognised at one of the most prestigious competitions in the telecoms industry for the second time when it won the Mobile Money Product of the Year award at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. – TradeArabia News Service