INTERVIEW: Scott Gegenheimer (pictured) said Zain Cash, Kuwait-based operator Zain’s mobile wallet business, is “going quite well”, with availability in markets including Iraq and Jordan, while conceding there have been obstacles which have slowed its progress.

In an interview with Mobile World Live, the company’s CEO of operations said: “There were a lot of challenges in the past, because of central bank regulation and telecom rules, so I’m very happy that we’re starting to move forward in getting mobile banking licences to be able to roll out these services.”

Zain operates in eight markets across the Middle East and Africa.

“The unbanking is pretty high in the Middle East and credit cards, the percentage of people who have them is quite low, so it gives us an opportunity,” he said.

Earlier this year, the operator said it was planning to launch an education campaign to boost financial inclusion in Iraq. The market was described as “special and unique” due to its long period of instability.

Zain also partnered with Mastercard in Jordan, a move which offer prepaid cards linked to Zain Cash wallets.

Gegenheimer also noted Zain has “a lot of data” in its network, which could be used to support mobile financial services. Prepaid top-up information could be used to assess suitability for microloans, for example.

The full interview, which also covers Zain’s digital transformation work, is here.