Ericsson To Develop Tap-To-Pay System For Rwanda’s Financial, Transport Sectors

[mchambawima1]

Posted on October 19, 2015
Ericsson is set to demonstrate smart utility and M-Commerce solutions at the Transform Africa conference, holding in Kigali, Rwanda, from today October 19 to 21, 2015, Footprint to Africa reports.
The event is aimed at building smart cities and a cashless society in Rwanda, particularly in the financial and transport sectors.
The conference, hosted by Rwandan President, His Excellency Paul Kagame, brings the continent’s top political and business leaders together to shape Africa’s digital transformation agenda.
Ericsson recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Government of Rwanda at the Mobile World Congress 2015.
The Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect provides the total interconnection solution required to bring together all the players in the financial services area, and allow money to flow between them seamlessly, taking cash out of the system. The system has the capacity to connect the formal financial sector with the semi-formal and informal especially Savings Co-operatives and Micro-finance players to increase financial inclusion.
In Rwanda, Ericsson will showcase the M-Commerce Interconnect Switch, in partnership with MNOs, service providers and banks as well as its solutions for intelligent transport to help governments to better manage revenue collection in the public transportation system and create efficiency in the utilization of the existing public transport capacity.
The key components of the solution are:
Automated Fare collection system – uses prepaid bus cards with onboard tap-to-pay system or mobile payment solution removing cash from the system permitting better revenue accounting and tax collection.
Fleet Management Solution – gives the operator real time visibility of the buses as well as passenger locations allowing for better management of the route used by the buses to give the passengers the best travel experience.
Passenger Information system – provides interactive interface for the passengers to receive real time information about the bus timetables and running times, allowing passengers to plan their journeys more efficiently.
In a statement, Fredrik Jejdling, Ericsson President for sub-Saharan Africa said: “We are especially excited about the impending industry transformation in Rwanda. Seeing first hand that it can be done here in our region is a powerful message for the rest of Africa and we are proud to be at this conference to bring this message forward.”
In addition to Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect and the solutions for intelligent transport, Ericsson will also demonstrate smart utilities solutions.