Barcelona is buzzing at the moment with the inauguration of the 2011 Mobile World Congress.

The MMU team is very excited to share with the industry and our partners our latest research and insights on mobile money for the unbanked. The event tomorrow will cover a number of current challenges, and will include interviews with experts in the field to give participants the chance to learn first-hand from others, as well as provide them with the opportunity to share their insights with us. Some of the highlights will include presentations on marketing and customer activation which has become one of the prominent challenges facing mobile money programmes. In this session, we will discuss with Roar Bjaerum, Vice President of Financial Services at Telenor Pakistan the key challenges that operators have faced when it comes to activating customers for mobile money, and will identify effective marketing strategies.

We will also be discussing with Greg Reeve, Head of Mobile Payment Systems at Vodafone how to forge effective relationships with banks, following the launch of the recent MMU report on operator-bank relationships, which reviews the assets and capabilities that operators and banks bring to mobile money. In addition, we will be discussing profitability to further understand the drivers – and extent – of value being created in mobile money by presenting the results of a recent study conducted by GSMA. Finally, Ignacio Mas, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will give us a preview into the future by examining the opportunities and challenges of interoperability. He will examine issues such as whether operators should interconnect their platforms and offer common payment interfaces to bulk users.

We are looking forward to tomorrow and hope that you will be able to join us either in person or via WebEx.

The MMU Working Group will be taking place between 9:30am and 13:30 – Barcelona time (GMT +1). Please email [email protected] for the dial-in details and WebEx access links.