| For the Polish population, mobile phone usage is extremely popular, and it shows. Poland is the largest telecom market in Central Europe. The country has continually shown strong growth in the number of prepaid mobile phone users, and the trends indicate that this growth will continue.
According the EMC Database, Poland has 17.1 million mobile subscribers, of which 9.4 are prepaid. Up to 70% of prepaid mobile phone users in Poland will be recharging their accounts, or purchasing additional airtime, electronically by the end of next year, according to data from Interfax. Euronet and its prepaid subsidiary, e-pay Poland are at the forefront of providing electronic top-up to Polish users.
Euronet was the first in the CEE region to offer electronic top up -- initially via ATMs. Then, in 2000, Euronet piloted prepaid top-up via the point-of-sale (POS) terminal to PTK Centertel customers, making them the first mobile operator to provide Euronet's POS recharge service -- branded as e-pay to its customer base. Now, Euronet has agreements with all three Polish mobile operators -- Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa, Polkomtel S.A. and PTK Centertel -- to provide both card- and cash-based electronic top-up via the POS terminal.
Topping Up Accounts
Euronet is able to either deploy or use existing electronic terminals at each of a mobile operator's established reseller base so that when a mobile subscriber enters a shop, they are able to simply go to the merchant counter, enter their mobile phone number into the terminal, choose an amount, and give the merchant payment (cash or a bankcard). No sign up process is required, and all prepaid customers can benefit, without the need of a bankcard.
POS top-up is an automatic top-up product that enables cash and bankcard (debit and credit) transactions for banks, merchants, mobile operators and their distributors. The solution also allows mobile operators to sell prepaid airtime electronically without the need to manufacture scratch cards.
From Scratch Cards to Electronic Airtime Distribution
Mobile operators and retailers are moving to electronic top-up to save distribution costs, reduce fraud and increase flexibility within their sales channels. Until the development of electronic top-up, in which e-pay played a key role in the U.K., prepaid airtime was distributed primarily through scratch cards, which were offered in retail outlets. This distribution method is very costly to mobile operators and retailers in terms of inventory, distribution costs, theft and fraud. By moving to real-time electronic distribution, mobile operators and retailers eliminate these costs and afford their consumers the added convenience of multiple purchase locations. Consumers also gain the ability to credit their prepaid accounts through cash and/or card-based transactions. Retailers, who may have previously run out of one particular scratch card denomination, also appreciate electronic distribution because inventory is not an issue.
Euronet Top-Up Market Review
Prepaid airtime sales have become a significant value-added service, which Euronet offers to both mobile service providers and banks. Many Euronet bank customers benefit from the mobile airtime service.
Euronet, via its three subsidiaries -- e-pay, transact, and PaySpot -- is the leading provider of POS top-up solutions, which serve more than 20 mobile service providers including Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, Orange and Virgin.
In growing markets, such as Poland, the growth potential for airtime distribution is a combination of the increase in prepaid users as well as the shift to electronic distribution. Considering that Poland's mobile market is expanding at a rate of 30% annually, the business potential for electronic airtime sales channels is worthy of consideration by all merchants, banks and mobile operators. |
