CGAP and WIZZIT Partner on Mobile Banking for Poor People in Rural South Africa

Services will link poor people in small towns and rural areas to banking for
the first time

JOHANNESBURG, April 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CGAP, a microfinance group
based at the World Bank, is supporting WIZZIT Bank to deliver banking services
to poor people in South Africa's small towns and rural areas. WIZZIT is a
division of the South African Bank of Athens Limited.

"WIZZIT is in a good position to engage with South Africa's rural communities
on a face-to-face basis because WIZZIT does not rely on branches to open
accounts and facilitate transactions," says Brian Richardson, co-founder of
WIZZIT Bank.

Globally, there are only a few examples of successful banking services that
reach poor people in remote areas. With this project, CGAP is looking to
WIZZIT to demonstrate how the reach of such services can be expanded with
mobile technology and local agents who handle cash.

"Imagine a poor person in a rural town who doesn't have access to financial
services so her only option is to stuff cash under the mattress. Access to a
bank account empowers poor people, giving them the security of not having to
carry cash and the ability to store money safely for future use," says
Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of CGAP.

The project's three key components use point-of-sale devices in combination
with WIZZIT's mobile phone banking platform:
-- A mobile banking payment service for the major wholesalers serving
more
than 500 microentrepreneurs (spaza shops) in the township of
Motherwell,
where three in five people are unbanked.
-- A pilot program for easy account opening and preferred pricing at
Dunns
outlets -- a leading South African clothing retailer. If successful,
this pilot program will expand to 289 stores throughout the country.
To
encourage sign-ups and use, customers will be given incentives to make
purchases with their Maestro debit card rather than cash.
-- Easy account opening using a direct sales model and the South African
Post Office for distribution.

CGAP's Technology Program aims to improve the lives of millions of poor
people. We do this by helping financial institutions and others to expand
access to financial services through the innovative application of technology.
The program is co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To read the
program's mobile banking blog, visit http://technology.cgap.org.

About CGAP
CGAP is an independent policy and research center dedicated to advancing
financial access for the world's poor. It is supported by over 30 development
agencies and private foundations who share a common mission to alleviate
poverty. Housed at the World Bank, CGAP provides market intelligence, promotes
standards, develops innovative solutions and offers advisory services to
governments, microfinance providers, donors, and investors. More at
http://www.cgap.org.

About WIZZIT
Formed in 2005, WIZZIT is a division of the South African Bank of Athens
Limited that offers a full-service cellphone based banking facility
unrestricted by various networks, type of SIM card or age of cellphone. Its
target market is the estimated 16 million unbanked or underbanked South
Africans, which makes up about 60 percent of the country's population. More
at http://www.wizzit.co.za.

SOURCE CGAP

Jim Rosenberg of CGAP, +1-202-494-4422, jrosenberg@worldbank.org, or Brian
Richardson of WIZZIT, +27-11-523-5600, +27-83-675-017, brianr@wizzit.co.za