Having secured a licence from the Ministry of Finance, Orange Cameroun has announced ‘Orange Bank’ as a project and in the interim, will run its Orange Money Cameroun S.A subsidiary as a fully autonomous financial and payment services provider.

In 2019, the telecoms company created Orange Money Cameroun S.A as an independent enterprise and used a mobile payment licence held by BICEC Bank to enable it to provide mobile money services.

It then applied for a licence to provide payment services and this was granted on 5 May this year. The company said it was officially notified on 5 July.

The regulatory approval will enable Orange to independently offer services including deposits, transfers and withdrawals of money as well as airtime and bundles purchases. It will also provide channels for receiving international money transfers, settlement of utility and other bills, payment of salaries, taxes and duties, fundraising and remittances, amongst others.

A statement released by the company reads, “Obtaining this approval marks a new milestone in the development of Orange Money as a major player in financial inclusion for more than a decade and as the leader of mobile payment in Cameroon.”

As to leadership at Orange Money Cameroun S.A, Anne Catherine Tchokonté Tholagheu and Serge Hervé Eyiké have been appointed Director General and Deputy Director General respectively.

Since its rollout in July 2011, Orange Money claims to have garnered over ten million account holders, with more than 100,000 business partners and approximately 35,000 callbox agents engaged in both airtime sales and mobile money. The service boasts 800 million francs CFA in average monthly transaction volume.

Orange Money’s main competition is MTN Mobile Money (MTN MoMo) which, according to the National Institute of Statistics, is ahead in mobile money services provision.