Easypaisa, the Pakistan mobile money provider owned by Telenor, is swapping its existing infrastructure for equipment from Ericsson.

The Easypaisa deployment is one of the largest mobile money operations in the world. The original network was supplied by Visa-owned Fundamo. The service currently boasts 21 million active users.

No reason has been given by Telenor or Ericsson for the vendor swap.

Easypaisa was launched jointly by Tameer Micro Finance Bank and Telenor Pakistan. Telenor Group, which owns Telenor Pakistan, recently bought the 49 per cent of Tameer Micro Finance Bank it does not already own.

Nadeem Hussain, founder, president and CEO, Tameer Micro Finance Bank, says: “Easypaisa is continuously focusing on enhancing customers’ experience of doing financial transactions in a secure and seamless manner. It is essential to have the right technology partner to roll out new services that provide added benefits and services to propel financial inclusion through branchless banking.”

Easypaisa started by offering money transfer services and has moved to offer a broader array of financial services via mobile devices.