AsiaHawala, Iraq's first mobile money service powered by Mahindra Comviva, has been declared the 'Best mPayment Innovation' at the Smart Card & Payments Awards 2016 ceremony, held recently in Dubai.

AsiaHawala, powered by Mahindra Comviva's mobiquity Money, is the first mobile commerce service launched in Iraq.

In war-torn Iraq, huge segments of the population are without any access to any banking facilities. AsiaHawala fills this gap by leveraging the ubiquity of the mobile to provide 'remote payments' facility to the unbanked as well as the underbanked.

Besides providing transactional security for a wide range of payment activities like bill payments, money transfers, merchant payments, salary disbursements and e-wallets, AsiaHawala has provided employment opportunities to small merchants by making them their agents, thus contributing to the GDP of Iraq, said a statement.

Zring Faruk, CEO, AsiaHawala, said: "We're delighted to receive this award. AsiaHawala is filling the gaping hole left by the non-existing banking infrastructure in Iraq. By leveraging the near ubiquitous penetration of the mobile phones, we are providing ordinary citizens with mobile commerce facilities from the comfort of their homes. Recognition of this service at the prestigious Cards & Payments Conference means a lot to us. We will continue to provide superior and innovative services to the people of Iraq."

Kaustubh Kashyap, vice president - Middle-East and North Africa, Mahindra Comviva, said: "We're delighted that AsiaHawala has received this award against the stiff competition from the other international wallet service providers. It reaffirms our strong leadership position in the industry when it comes to driving technological and functional innovations. It also validates our ability to cater to localized market needs and requirements with robust solutions. We will continue to invest in such technologies and deliver solutions to serve all the segments of the society - banked, under-banked and the unbanked."

Mahindra Comviva mobiquity Money has clocked over 65 deployments in more than 45 countries with excess of 40 million mobile wallet accounts (prepaid wallets/ stored value accounts) processing 200 million transactions valuing $4 billion per month, the statement said. - TradeArabia News Service