₦airaland Forum

France Telecom-Orange (NYSE:FTE) and Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) today announced that Orange Money customers will soon have access to Visa prepaid account features inside their Orange Money accounts – a significant step in bringing Visa-quality payments to consumers in developing markets.

Orange Money is the mobile phone-based payment service designed by Orange to meet the needs of customers in Africa and the Middle East. It offers Orange subscribers applications such as person to person transfers, bill payments, and agent-based cash-in and cash-out services for loading or withdrawing funds. Launched in cooperation with local bank partners, the service was first introduced in 2008 and is presently available in eight countries across Africa and the Middle East. Orange plans to introduce Visa payment capability to Orange Money subscribers in select markets by the end of 2012.

“We already provide secure and convenient payment capability to 3.5 million unbanked or financially under-served African citizens,” said Jean- Paul Cottet, Orange’s Executive Director for Marketing and Innovation. "By combining the convenience of Orange Money with the reach of Visa's global payment network, we can offer new payment capability to Orange Money customers in their home country and abroad.”

Visa Mobile Prepaid, a new Visa product introduced in October 2011, enhances the security, scale and interoperability of mobile money programs, such as Orange Money, by enabling account holders to make person-to-person payments, retail and e-commerce purchases at merchants where Visa is accepted, or withdraw funds at Visa ATMs.

“Mobile technology has become one of the most important enablers of financial inclusion and its ubiquity is allowing mobile network operators, financial institutions, and Visa to connect financially under-served consumers to each other and the global economy,” said John Partridge, President, Visa Inc. “The convergence of mobile and financial services networks helps to remove service barriers, accelerates the pace of change and is transforming the lives of consumers in developing countries.”



Visa Payments with Orange Money: How does it work?

By integrating Visa Mobile Prepaid accounts into Orange Money accounts, Orange is connecting existing mobile money subscribers to VisaNet, Visa’s global payment network that is today utilized by 2.2 billion account holders, 30 million merchants and provides access to 1.9 million ATMs globally.

Working together on a multi-national basis, Orange and Visa will provide Orange subsidiaries and their local financial institution partners with the ability to offer all the features of Visa Mobile Prepaid accounts to their customers, including:

--Visa Payment Functionality – From retail and e-commerce transactions, to access to Visa-enabled ATMs, Visa Mobile Prepaid will add new payment functionality to a customer's existing Orange Money account. Consumers may also have the option of receiving a Visa prepaid companion card.

--Transaction Authorization, Clearing and Settlement Services – Visa will offer a full suite of payment processing and account management services supported by the world’s largest payments network, VisaNet.

--Visa-quality Payment Security – Visa Mobile Prepaid combines Visa’s advanced risk processing technology with the security and authentication features of mobile devices, offering consumers in developing countries peace of mind when making purchases. In addition, Visa’s fraud monitoring capabilities can help mitigate and prevent fraud.

Developing countries in Africa and the Middle East are among the first target markets for Orange and Visa to deploy cross-over prepaid products and services, helping to drive economic growth and financial inclusion by migrating cash spend to electronic payments.

Nigerian entertainment scene gets a boost with launch of OK! Nigeria Magazine

The wait is finally over and OK! Magazine, the world’s biggest celebrity lifestyle publication with more than 50 million readers worldwide has finally launched in Nigeria. The magazine was unveiled on the 9th of March at a glamorous black tie event sponsored by telecoms giant MTN at the picturesque Harbour Point.

Alexander Amosu, famed entrepreneur behind the magazine, said, “I’m delighted and proud that OK! Magazine has finally launched in Nigeria. OK! Magazine already reaches over 25 countries around the world and our Nigerian edition is really exciting in its own right. This is also OK’s first entry into the African continent and to one of the potentially largest readerships in the world.”

The launch saw the unveiling of the first issue with high profile celebrities invited from music, fashion, sport, film and politics. There were performances by renowned artistes MI, Brymo, Davido, Goldie and Naeto C amongst others followed by an exclusive after party at Likwid after what was an exciting evening.

So the magazine finally hits the stands but readers can also look forward to checking OK! Magazine out on their mobile phones as platinum sponsor MTN will have content of OK! Nigeria available exclusively to its 40 million plus subscribers, (the largest subscriber base in the country), for a year.

It will be available onIPads, IPhones, Blackberry, Samsung galaxy and many other devices with access to it free for 2 months globally and in Nigeria only on MTN from 1st of April.

Kola Oyeyemi, MTN’s General Manager Consumer Marketing, said,"As a company of firsts in Nigeria, we felt it was only fitting to be involved in launching OK! Magazine in Nigeria, the first African country to launch this world famous, well read publication. We look forward to bringing people entertainment news, heart-warming stories, everywhere they go. The mobile version of the

magazine will be accessible to smart phone users on our network for a year.”
The magazine which will be published in Nigeria and printed in the United Kingdom will be distributed on newsstands in Nigeria on April 1st and costs N1500. Readers throughout the world can also subscribe to the magazine and it will also be available online on www.oknigeria.com.

Ok! Magazine Nigeria will be published monthly and content will be 60% on Nigerian celebrities globally, with 20% of the 60% about local Nigerian celebrities based in Nigeria. The remaining 40% is divided into 30% African American celebrities and the remaining 10% will be about people we love to read about.

The new magazine is the latest addition to the 25 plus editions of OK! Magazine worldwide.

HOW TO Post Your Tweets At Optimal Times

Ever wondered what your truly best times to Tweet are? Knowing when you can reach most of your friends and followers can have a huge impact. We found that it can increase the number of clicks by 200%, double your retweets and considerably increase your Klout score.

The guys at Buffer sat down with the team from SocialBro and brainstormed a solution for you.

SocialBro is a wonderful Social Media dashboard that gives you a huge amount of information about your Twitter account. Personally I have been very successful understanding more where my followers are from, whom I engage with the most and much more.

Buffer is an amazing tool that allows you to schedule the content you find online and add it to your Twitter stream (it also works on Facebook). The app publishes the tweets according to the times you choose and, as we can read on its site, “with Buffer, we do the scheduling and let you focus on the sharing!”.

And as of today, SocialBro also integrates with Buffer. This works in the most hassle free way possible. Simply with the click of one button.

With this new feature, now you will be able to configure the times for scheduling your tweets via Buffer with the help of our Best Time to Tweet report! SocialBro calculates your best times to tweet during the week, helping you spread your content at the times you have more followers online. Isn’t it fantastic!

Go to http://greenwhiteguru./2012/02/10/optimize-your-tweet-reach-with-buffer-and-socialbro/ to read more

When the design for Blackberry Porsche came out last year, many people dismissed it, saying it was a rumour. Well, it isn’t! It has been launched and is now in the UK and Asian market.

What has however sparked many people’s interest in the handheld device is the ridiculously high asking price: a whooping $2,000 ( N322, 180)! There are no ‘out-of-this-world’ features o! Would have expected diamond studs or gold engravings!

The back battery cover is made of real leather and has a subtle BlackBerry logo, which serves to cover the removable battery. There’s also a rectangular metal slab with holes for the 5-megapixel camera and LED flash with the P’9981 name engraved as well. The phone also has a forged stainless steel frame sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and crystal clear touch display.

To complete the customization, all of these devices will have special Porsche PINs that start with the letter P, topped off with a bespoke build of BlackBerry OS 7.

Nigerians have however reacted negatively to this new product. Here’s a BBM broadcast that has been circulating:

“Questions to ask yourself before buying the new Blackberry Porsche:

1. Does it fly?

2. Does it download food?

3. Does it have unlimited BIS?

4. Does it transfer you via bluetooth to another country?

5. Does it have inbuilt ATM device?

If it doesn’t have any of these, consider buying yourself landed property and start the foundation!”

Funny thing is Nigerians would still buy it. Considering that we have a lot of vain people around here…You would soon begin to hear phrases like “You need my contact? Let me just give you my ‘P’ PIN”