ERICSSON & MTN COLLABORATE ON M-WALLET SERVICES

• Strategic m-commerce partnership announced at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain
• The agreement sees early adopter MTN become the first operator to deploy Ericsson Converged Wallet across its operations in Africa and the Middle East
• Partnership based on co-development and co-operation drives innovation and change in mobile financial services

Mobilk - Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and MTN Group are establishing a strategic partnership to launch m-wallet services in Africa and the Middle East.  MTN will become the first operator to deploy Ericsson Converged Wallet platform, a new complementary service to the integrated pre-paid charging system and mobile financial services solution for MTN consumers in those regions. 

The new solution delivers a fast track route for MTN to quickly introduce relevant, new and differentiated m-wallet market offerings to its Mobile Money customers to create an optimized user experience.

The partnership between Ericsson and MTN supports the operators strategy to secure a flexible, reliable and efficient solution in the area of mobile financial services. As part of the co-operation, Ericsson will offer a prime integrator engagement model encompassing software, systems integration and managed operation services.

Christian de Faria, MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, said: "Optimizing the Mobile Money consumer experience directly impacts consumer stickiness, and with Ericsson Converged Wallet we can now address our strategic priorities by enabling rapid response to our consumers preferences and expectations." 

MTN has more than 5 million Mobile Money subscribers in 12 countries.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Ericsson, Hans Vestberg, said: "2012 will be the year of partnerships across the emerging m-commerce eco-system. MTN has long been an early adopter in mobile money, and this new partnership builds on our ongoing relationship of collaboration.  Driving accelerated time to market for operators and linking wallet accounts to purchases across multiple payment systems is a clear next step in next generation mobile financial services."

The development of the Ericsson Converged Wallet follows a period of close co-operation between Ericsson and MTN Group, highlighting MTNs ongoing commitment to innovation - it was one of the first operators to deploy Ericssons pre-paid solution back in 1998. Ericsson is the first technology enabler to integrate a charging system and mobile financial services solution.

Ericsson Converged Wallet solution is built for high volume and secured transactions. It also delivers operational efficiencies by providing a single configuration tool and rating engine for all packages, prices, promotions, policies and notifications.

MTN will initially deploy the Ericsson Converged Wallet as a pilot in selected MTN operations during 2012, with a view to roll out the solution across all its operations in Africa and the Middle East.