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BLUE LABEL INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2014
OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW
CONTINUED
Having commenced operations 10 years ago as a
prepaid airtime distributor, Oxigen’s strategic shift into
payment solutions and financial services continues
to take hold. Growth is underpinned by partnerships
with India’s major banks, such as the State Bank of
India and ICICI Bank, for the banking correspondent
business, also known as kiosk banking.
A recent historic tie-up with the National Payments
Corporation of India has enabled Oxigen to become
India’s first non-banked wallet to be approved by the
Reserve Bank of India to provide direct connectivity to
more than 60 banks on the national switch of the
NPCI, through its immediate payment service. As a
consequence, mobile payment remittances are
emerging as a new growth driver in Oxigen, with
the value of domestic and international money
transfers and deposits already exceeding
USD2.5 million per day.
In alignment with government’s financial inclusion
agenda, the Reserve Bank of India has initiated a
cash-out pilot project to demonstrate that Oxigen’s
technology and wallet support cash-out transactions
in the rural parts of India.
Blue Label’s share of losses for the year equated to
R3.3 million (2013: R0.6 million loss).
During the year, the focus was on diversification into
new products, with the launching of Money Transfer
in association with Moneygram® and the Ukash
Prepaid MasterCard® product. In a partnership with
Birmingham City Football Club, fans are now able to
purchase match tickets and club merchandise using
Ukash. Just after year-end the Ukash Travel Money
Card was brought to market.
Over the years, Ukash has been recognised for its
significant levels of growth with an array of awards.
In 2014, acknowledgements proudly include:
➔
the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International
Trade for the fourth year in succession;
➔
the Prepaid 365 Award for the Best Prepaid Card;
➔
participation in the London Stock Exchange’s list of
One Thousand Companies to Inspire Britain; and
➔
the UK Sunday Times Tech Track 100 portfolio of
the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies.
Year-on-year organic growth resulted in revenue
increasing by 14% as measured in sterling. The
Group’s 17.25% share of profit equated to
R14.1 million (2013: R7.3 million).
OXIGEN SERVICES INDIA
In reaching out to India’s unbanked and rural
communities, Oxigen continues building a valuable
distribution network and cash-out infrastructure.
Currently Oxigen supports about 35 million
transactions per month, principally through kiosk,
POS and e-wallet banking.
INTERNATIONAL
DISTRIBUTION
CONTINUED
AIRTIME