Sunday, September 09, 2012

Buy your airline tickets with mobile money

Someone sent me a note highlighting the fact that one can now use EasyPaisa (the leading mobile payment system in Pakistan) to purchase airline tickets on Pakistan Air. I checked and this seems to be the case (Read here). The advantage of this service compared to using PAI booking offices and airline travel agents is that it is available twenty-four hours a day. I found it so fascinating that a payment service designed for low income people could also be used for purchasing airline tickets that I decided to investigate. It turns out that this service is not just offered in Pakistan ....
A similar service is available in Ghana. MTN Mobile Money subscribers who use a Starbow service can now purchase their air tickets through Mobile Money. (Read here). In Tanzania is also possible to purchase airline tickets on Precision Air (a local airline). This service is available to mPesa subscribers and tickets purchased in this way would receive a 20% discount. (Read here). Further research indicated that a similar service is available in Nigeria where tickets on local airline, Aero can be purchased from the U-Mo electronic wallet. (Read here).

It seems that the availability of a flexible, digital payment system can lead to applications that one would not have envisaged initially.

3 comments:

Frans Stander said...

Now how about purchasing your next 1st class return ticket Cape Town to San Francisco via your mobile?

I remember the days when attempting the first mobile transactions, worth a few cents, was a bit scary, but look at where we are now.

The innovations and value-add applications on mobile payments are now steamrolling ahead and it is difficult to keep track of all the exiting successes out there,... and look where this is all happening again,... in the African regions.

Anonymous said...

I am excited paying my next flight using my mPowa (www.mpowa.com). I think the best mobile payment platform which should cover payments for huge expenses like airline tickets are the MPOS PLatforms like Square, my carrier, Intuit, etc.

Andy said...

the source and destination place or airport have to be given. in the process of booking air tickets online, is specifying the number of passengers.

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