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BUSINESS MODEL
AND STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES
LEADERSHIP
GOVERNANCE
SHAREHOLDERS’
INFORMATION AND
ADMINISTRATION
OPERATING
PERFORMANCE
FINANCIAL
PERFORMANCE
BLUE LABEL INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2014
77
Snapshot April 2014
World Bank hosted panel discussion on mobile money. Summary of address by Hortencia Contreras
Torres, CEO of Blue Label Mexico.
One can’t start a mobile money service until you have places where people can put cash in and take cash out
of your system. The more places the better. This has been a problem for the global poor, being unbanked or
badly banked, as there aren’t enough branches of the traditional banks. Grupo Bimbo believes that every one
of the 700 000 Mom & Pop stores that buys its products could also be a bank.
Using technology from the South African digital distribution and payment company, Blue Label Telecoms,
Grupo Bimbo is installing terminals at its customers’ stores that, for now, top-up mobile airtime and pay utility
bills. Visa, the card acquirer, has also joined in, which permits cashless payments as well. Technicians literally
arrive on the bread delivery truck to set up machines and at the same time train shop owners.
In developed economies, banks are expected to do three basic things: money transfer, loans and savings.
Grupo Bimbo is picking one of these – money transfers – and offering it to customers as a way of helping them
compete with the big box stores moving into Mexico. This is not a revolution, but it does turn Mom & Pop
stores into banks, making them, along with Grupo Bimbo, a completely different kind of entrant in the contest
to see who provides the market with the next several billion bank accounts.
UKASH
Ukash is the trading name of Smart Voucher Limited,
which is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom as an
electronic money institution. Ukash is a Global
e-Money Network which provides an internationally
recognised e-commerce cash payment solution.
Consumers around the world are able to exchange
cash at retail outlets, including shops, petrol
forecourts, ATMs, kiosks or online, for a unique
19-digit code. Consumers can then spend their Ukash
code to pay at thousands of websites or load their
prepaid cards and e-wallets, in a safe, secure and
convenient manner.