Telenor EASYPAISA, Customer feedback

Telenor says, its EasyPaisa service has revolutionized the country and thousands of people are transacting through their service, this was said by Mr. Usman Javed, Head of Marketing, Telenor Pakistan in a television show. On the very second day after the launch of the service, he claimed that the response is overwhelming and thousands of people are paying their utility bills through Telenor EasyPaisa.

There is no doubt that the concept is excellent and the service itself is a nice thing to add in portfolio. We recently did a survey to know how people think about this unique service. Contrary to the claims of Mr. Usman, our findings were a little different.  There are good and the bad points which Telenor need to take care of to further mature the service.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sORZbzU8dOE

If you are unable to see the video click here

• A service like this is itself a good point so I would mention the other ones here
• There is a strong resistance on the “Extra Charges” which Telenor is taking. When a shopkeeper charges Rs. 25 from a customer, he keeps Rs. 5 and rest of the money goes to Telenor. According to reports, Telenor also take Rs. 10 from the company on behalf of which it receives the bill.
• Telenor is telling people through their ads, how they can pay their bills, no where it is mentioned that an extra amount will be charged. People are taking it as deceptive marketing and ultimately it will lose Public’s trust.
• Making an EasyPaisa stamp is as easy as buying a chocolate. Any Tom Dick and Harry working in any shop or a friend of shop owner can fraudulently collect some thousands from the customers and easily flee. In the suburbs of cities and far flung areas, it is very easy to do this where customers do not have awareness about the process. So the company must be ready for any such surprise.
• Though, Telenor has put the availability of EasyPaisa shops on its website but majority of people from middle and lower middle class do not access internet nor do they have the computers. So for them finding a Telenor EasyPaisa shop is hard, if it is not located in their “Mohallah”. Most of the mobile phone shops/PCOs where EasyPaisa service is not available but they do have the Telenor signboard installed do not know a single word about EasyPaisa nor they can guide you where is this facility available nearby.

Mobile transaction was introduced by Mobilink but Telenor has taken it to a next level in shape of EasyPaisa. In my opinion, it is not the mobile banking as customer has to physically go to some shop/outlet and pay the amount and get the bill stamped to complete a single transaction.

A complete mobile banking transaction would be the one which Telenor is about to start in the month of November for which company is already doing test transactions. Company employees and the retailers are practicing it by sending and receiving electronic money through their mobile phones using SMS as a means of balance transfer and confirmation. I am not sure about the existing EasyPaisa  activity but once the people are able to transfer the money from cities to villages and from outside the country to their families back here in Pakistan in shape of remittance, that would bring a real revolution in Pakistan. For this Telenor people have to be on their toes as transferring money online is not without risk, online frauds and cyber criminals keep looking for the opportunities.

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