Abuja, Nigeria: CellTrust Corporation, the
world's largest provider of SecureSMS for mobile phones, announced
today that its SecureSMS platform meets the new and stringent SecureSMS
security requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
With approximately 53% of the adult population in Nigeria financially
excluded, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been working feverishly to spur
innovation within the financial services sector. As the government of
Nigeria launched its FSS 2020 strategy back in 2007 to catapult the
country into the ranks of the top 20 global financial systems by 2020, it
went about promoting microfinance and more recently secure mobile banking
in effort to extend financial products and services to those previously
excluded.
Since the launch of the FSS 2020, microfinance and SMS banking have
proliferated throughout Nigeria. In June of this year, the Central
Bank of Nigeria released new and significantly more rigorous
security and compliance regulations compelling financial service providers
and their partners to utilize Secure SMS when transmitting
remittance information via SMS. Furthermore, they require a complete
audit trail for all levels of the financial transaction including SMS
remittance information to be maintained for a minimum of five years.
"We are pleased to announce that we meet the rigorous mobile security and
compliance requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria," said Sean
Moshir, Chairman and CEO of CellTrust. "CellTrust SecureSMS helps
reduce fraud, lower call center costs, and increase revenue
potential while dramatically reaching out to the approximately 60 million
un-banked citizens across Nigeria."
CellTrust SecureSMS manages and exchanges messages via CellTrust's Global
SecureSMS Gateway to:
· Meet security, privacy and compliance requirements without costly
development
· Set aside concern that carriers, tower operators, infrastructure
providers, aggregators, and others can intercept and read text messages
· Confirm that text message recipients have received and opened SMS
messages
· Use the same set of APIs to send both secure and standard SMS or text
messages
· Remotely "wipe" the handset if lost or stolen
· Provide a comprehensive and definitive audit trail
"We are witnessing a rise in awareness and a dramatic shift towards mobile
money transactions in the region. With CellTrust's SecureSMS meeting
the highest level of security and encryption, combined with the easy
use of SMS, it is perfectly suited for this high growth market,"
said Samuel Ucheaga, Managing Director, CellTrust of Africa. "We now have
the real possibility that all could be financially included and none
excluded."
CellTrust's SecureSMS has recently received the 2008 Communications
Solutions Product of the Year Award and was voted Best Messaging
Security Solution by the Info Security Products Guide's Tomorrow's
Technology Today Award. SecureSMS was accredited as a finalist for the
Third Annual CTIA Emerging Technology Award, and was named the winner of
three Mobile Star Awards, and the prestigious Mobile Marketing Association
2008 Global Relationship Building Award.
