Sybase 365 and MobiKash Afrika Launch First Intra-Region Mobile Commerce Solution for East and Southern Africa

November 11, 2009 3:00 AM EST

Enabling mCommerce Between Enterprises, Government and Public Utilities and Africa's Under-Serviced Communities

CAPE TOWN, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce, today announced its partnership with MobiKash Afrika, an independent Kenyan mobile commerce services provider, to deliver the first intra-region, mobile network and bank agnostic, mobile commerce solution for East and Southern Africa.

The companies will deliver mCommerce solutions to increase the current level of financial inclusion of the unbanked and semi-banked, via a greatly simplified registration process for opening mobile wallets, as well as rapid bank account opening processes. An individual's accessibility to financial institutions - whether banks, micro-finance institutions (MFIs) or savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) - is significantly increased while offering tailored financial products beyond the now mainstream person-to-person mobile money transfer services found in Africa. The mCommerce services are designed for major enterprises, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), cooperatives, insurance, medical and pension schemes, schools, disbursement channels, government agencies and international remittance channels.

"Integrating financial institutions and other stakeholders into a single mobile commerce platform makes it a great deal easier for individuals, governments and businesses to manage finances. The ultimate goal is to also make it effortless for people to progress towards opening a fully integrated bank account," said Duncan Otieno, CEO of MobiKash Afrika. "As the most comprehensive of its type in the world, the Sybase 365 Mobiliser platform has the track record and robust functionality required to ensure the project's success."

The initial deployment is being piloted this year in Kenya with a combination of banks, MFIs and bill issuers utilizing USSD as the mobile communication channel. In parallel, the MobiKash business model is being established in various other COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) territories where several project contracts have already been signed and deployment work has commenced.

"The MobiKash project represents a significant step forward in delivering the necessary integrated infrastructure required to ensure that the unbanked can now move towards seamless transactions via an exceptionally advanced mCommerce portal service," said Matthew Talbot, vice president, mCommerce, Sybase 365. "With many similar projects already being deployed by Sybase 365, the African continent will eventually become an integrated single mCommerce ecosystem using a common architecture and product set."

For more information about mobile commerce services, visit Sybase 365 at:

AfricaCom, November 11-12, 2009, Cape Town, South Africa. Stand # B13A

About MobiKash Afrika

MobiKash is an independent mobile commerce and payment ecosystem. MobiKash Afrika Limited is sponsored by Mobicom Africa Limited, the holding company with its Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. MobiKash Kenya is backed by a consortium of Kenyan financial and business professionals. MobiKash Afrika Limited was incorporated in 2008 as a vehicle to commercialise the MobiKash concept in the continent. MobiKash is currently deploying the Sybase 365 platform under the brand name MobiKashTM in Eastern and Southern Africa, Kenya being the pilot country. www.mobikashafrika.com/

About Sybase 365

Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), is the global leader in enabling mobile information services for mobile operators, financial institutions and enterprises. We provide our customers with the widest offering in SMS, MMS and GRX interoperability, end-to-end mobile commerce solutions, innovative text messaging, mobile marketing and content delivery services. Sybase 365 processes more than one billion messages per day, reaching 800 operators and 3.4 billion subscribers around the world. For more information, visit: www.sybase.com/365. Read Sybase blogs: http://blogs.sybase.com.

Sybase and Sybase 365 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. (R) indicates registration in the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning Sybase, Inc. new and expanded business relationships and products are forward-looking and involve a number of uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the performance of the global economy and growth in software industry sales; market acceptance of the company's products and services; customer and industry analyst perception of the company and its technology vision and future prospects; the success of certain business combinations engaged in by the company or by competitors; political unrest or acts of war; possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes; and other factors described in Sybase, Inc.'s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.

    Source: Sybase 365

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