Société Générale introduces mobile money service to Africa

The service, called Yup, is meant to give users a full range of transactional and financial services without the need of a traditional bank account, which is similar to M-Pesa.

Users can access Yup via an expanded network of distributors equipped with adapted terminals and via the mobile banking app of Société Générales different banks throughout Africa.

Yups customers can withdraw, deposit, and transfer money, pay bills, buy phone credit, and make payments to merchants. It also also digitizes corporate payment flows. Société Générale said it will soon add financial services like payday advances, credit, savings products, and international transfers, according to the announcement.

Société Générale already has launched Yup in the Ivory Coast and Senegal and has 30,000 users and some 600 agents combined in those countries. The company plans to also launch Yup in Ghana and Cameroon by the end of the year and then Burkina Faso, Guinea and Togo in 2018.