MMT Advisory Board

Alberto Jimenez, Subject Matter Expert - Mobile Banking, IBM Global Business Services
Mr. Jimenez has more than 12 years of experience in banking strategy and business development work, both as a consultant and a corporate practitioner. He has been part of the Financial Services sector as an industry analyst and a strategy consultant since 1998.
Currently, Mr. Jimenez, based out of our New York office, leads mobile banking and payments initiatives globally for IBM. He is presently involved in advisory and implementation projects in South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, for both banking and telco clients. Previous to his current role, Mr. Jimenez was a strategy consultant with the Banking Industry for IBM Global Business Services. During this period, he was involved in a variety of strategy and operations projects for banking organizations in the US, Western Europe and Latin America. Prior to IBM, he did equity research and business development work for Prudential Securities, out of their Boston office.
He earned graduate degrees from Harvard University and Emory University; he also holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. In addition to this, Mr. Jimenez sits on the Schools Admissions Committee of Harvard University for the State of New York.

John Owens, Chief of Party, MABS
A lawyer with more than 21 years of experience in microenterprise development and microfinance, Mr. Owens has worked in Jamaica, the Eastern Caribbean, Bolivia, Peru, and the Philippines. His areas of expertise include planning, designing, and implementation of microfinance services both at the policy side and directly with banks, credit unions, and specialized microfinance institutions.
Mr. Owens is currently the chief of party for the Microenterprise Access to Banking Services program in the Philippines. The MABS program provides training and technical assistance to rural banks across the Philippines to develop their capability to profitably provide financial services to low income households.
He conceptualized the mobile phone banking services designed by the MABS team including Text-A-Payment, Text-A-Deposit, Text-A-Withdrawal, Text-A-Sweldo (Salary), Text-A-BillPayment, and Text-A-Credit.

Thivanka Rangala, Group Chief Commercial Officer, Dialog Telecom
Mr. Rangala presently functions as the Group Chief Commercial Officer. He is responsible for the group's Business Development, New Business Operations, Supply Chain Management and Investor Relations. During his tenure, starting 1997, he has served in many capacities, primarily heading the corporate finance function of the company, he has engaged in and led several strategic initiatives including Acquisitions, Project Management, CRM, Content management and General Management of the Company's R&D activities. Thivanka also played a key role in the lead up to the company's record breaking listing initiatives (IPO) and the SAP implementation.
Prior to his appointment with Dialog Telekom, Mr. Rangala gained experience primarily in the finance profession in several sectors including Trading, Construction, Aqua Culture, Hospitality, Manufacturing and Service.
Mr. Rangala holds a MBA from the University of Western Sydney, Australia and is a direct Fellow of CIMA [FCMA], He has also followed a management programme at INSEAD [YMP] and is a Member of the IMSL. In May 2004, Mr Rangala was awarded the Pinnacle Award for 'Business Manager of the Year 2003' by CIMA, Sri Lanka.
He is the Director / Treasurer of LISPA and is also the Chair designate of the Finance Committee of Infotel.

Carol Realini, CEO, Obopay
Carol Realini is an imaginative pioneer whose foresight and business acumen have changed the landscape of technology, and whose global compassion has provided hope and a future for people in developing countries.
Technology visionary. In 2005, Carol Realini founded Obopay to meet the need for an industry leader in mobile payments technology. In only a few business quarters, Carol secured $29 million in funding and finalized deals with every major cellular network in the United States. Today, Obopay is at the forefront of an emerging industry and quickly gathering the market share essential to ensuring longevity.
The inspiration to found Obopay struck Carol on a trip to Africa, where she saw first hand the opportunities that mobile payments would bring to both industrialized and developing nations. Obopay's business model supports Carol's desire to promote social and economic development throughout the world, by providing financial services options to millions of people for whom traditional banking is not available.

Brian Richardson, Founding Director and CEO, WIZZIT
Educated at Wits with a BCom and an MBA.
Currently a Founding Director and CEO of WIZZIT, a recently launched bank operating as a division of The South African Bank of Athens Limited aimed at the un and under banked segment of the population.
WIZZIT was launched in November 2004 and in providing affordable banking to the mass market was the first to launch as part of its offering, cell phone banking that works across all the networks and all phones and SIM cards. WIZZIT solves not only an accessibility and affordability issue but from a convenience point of view offers 24/7 real time transactions and hence is "Your Bank in Your Pocket." WIZZIT is recognized as the global pioneer in mobile banking.
Brian is listed in Who's Who of South African Business as well as the International Biography of Distinguished Leaders. He is an Ashoka Fellow - a global network of social entrepreneurs.
He has lectured and presented at seminars and conferences throughout the world and was recently invited by the Clinton Global Initiative to present the WIZZIT model as a means to "Bank a Billion".
Brian is married to an equally entrepreneurial wife and has 2 daughters and twin boys.

Brad Jones, Managing Director, WING Cambodia
Brad Jones is the Managing Director of WING, a branchless banking and mobile payments business that commenced development in Cambodia in February 2008. WING is owned by ANZ, a major bank headquartered in Australia, and with operations in 30 countries in Australasia, the Pacific, Europe, Dubai, USA and Asia.
Prior to this Brad was the Head of Operations for International Partnerships in ANZ, a business unit formed to acquire equity stakes and create joint ventures in financial institutions in Asia. In this role Brad was responsible for management of finance and marketing, project execution and negotiation with joint venture partners and technology vendors.
Previously, Brad was engaged as a project manager in ANZ on various commercial and technology projects. Before commencing with ANZ in 2001, Brad worked with a major technology consulting firm in Australia on assignments at telecommunications and media companies such as Telstra Mobiles and Pacific Publications.
Brad holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Griffith University in Australia, and a Graduate Diploma of Business Administration from the University of Queensland.

Thomas Bostrom Jorgensen, Luup

Zouhair Khaliq, CEO, Orascom International Investment Holding
"Twenty five years of senior general management, strategy and Board level experience with Price Waterhouse, ICI plc, Motorola Inc. and Orascom Telecom. Twenty years in the Telecom and Technology space, building and managing high caliber teams to launch and manage cellular networks across different parts of the world. Key capabilities in managing turn arounds and re-organising companies and managing them to success both at Board and Operational level.
Successful track record of very effective relationship and people management both inside the organisation and within the operational eco-system in several countries. Have served on the Board of Directors of several Mobile Operating companies in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Have served on the Board of a Government Information/ Communications Technology Research and Development Fund, Board of Mobile Number Portability Company, Board of Directors of the Islamabad Stock Exchange and several Education and Charity organisations over the years.
Currently engaged in devising and implementing Group strategy on Banking and integration of Mobile Financial Services throughout the Orascom Telecom Group cellular operations in Europe and MENA region. Key focus also on devising and implementing Group strategy on infrastructure sharing and cost optimisation."

Elmer M Malolos (Jojo), Group Head of Financial Services, SMART Communications

Aiaze Mitha, Amarante Consulting
Aiaze Mitha is a recognized international expert in the field mobile financial services, with hands-on involvement in over 10 projects across Africa, Asia, Middle East & Central America. Aiaze has spent the last 3 years supporting Mobile Operators, Microfinance Institutions and Regulators in every aspect of their mobile money projects, providing strategic guidance, regulatory advice, technology expertise and implementation support.
Previously Aiaze directed M-Paisa for Roshan, the leading mobile operator in Afghanistan. The services rolled-out in the initial stage focused on payroll deposit, microfinance services and P2P transfers.
Prior to Roshan, Aiaze was Consulting Director with Devoteam Middle East, with a focus on the Telecom Industry and Financial Sector.

Daniel Ayala, Head of Global Remittance Services, Wells Fargo Bank N.A.
Daniel Ayala is senior vice president and business unit manager for Wells Fargo's Global Remittance Services group.
He manages product development, product management, operations and customer service for Wells Fargo's consumer remittance service activities. Ayala and his team manage the Wells Fargo ExpressSend service and other products focused on consumer remittances to China, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Ayala is a global payments systems expert with more than 16 years of related consumer and wholesale banking experience.  Previously, he has been responsible for corporate and financial institutions treasury management activities focused on product management, marketing and sales management for Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America.
Over the past six years, Ayala has emerged as a renowned consumer remittances expert and has been widely recognized as a key industry leader by regulators, the media and academia.
He is a founding senior leader for Wells Fargo's Latino team member resource group "Amigos".  He has represented various lines of business in the Corporate Diversity Council. Ayala is an active member of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) Board of Trustees - a freestanding, nonprofit policy research organization that helps shape public policy.
He earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ayala is a Certified Cash Manager (CCM) with the Association for Financial Professionals. He is a graduate member of the Wells Fargo Diversified Products Management Development program. And he is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.
Ayala has traveled to more than 35 countries around the world and in the past, he has lived in Bogotá, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; Chicago, Illinois; and Miami, Florida.  He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Malcolm Vernon, Nokia Mobile Financial Services

Ali Abbas Skander, Group Executive Director of Operations and Technology, Tameer Microfinance Bank
Abbas is currently the Group Executive Director of Operations and Technology at Tameer Microfinance Bank and is responsible for overall Operations and Distribution Infrastructure Deployment, support and day-to-day running of central operations. He is also spearheading the branchless banking initiative for Tameer Bank.
Abbas has had vast exposure with multinational banks over the past 15 years, with expertise in development, management, sales and solutions, delivery of cash management, trade and treasury products to Corporate, Private and Institutional customers.
Prior to joining Tameer, he was based in Dubai looking after Export Agency Finance transactions in the Middle East for Citigroup. He also worked with Operations and Technology Product Management for Citigroup in the UAE, where he was responsible for managing all aspects of e-Business in the region to position and differentiate Citibank's e-Business products.
Prior to joining Citigroup, he worked as a senior management consultant with Ferguson Associates, a part of Price Waterhouse, covering it's IT and Business Process Re-engineering practice. Abbas also worked with Merrill Lynch Future Inc. as a Technical Analyst from 1990 to 1991 in New York, USA.
Abbas studied in the USA, where he acquired his undergraduate, graduate, non-degree and post-graduate qualifications in Physics, Operations Research and Industrial Engineering.

Abhishek Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, Eko India Financial Services
Abhishek believes in creation of wealth and degrees of freedom. He started his career with Satyam Computers and worked for their telecom division for couple of years. In 2002, he co-founded Six DEE Telecom Solutions, a telecom value added services company. He grew this business to span nine countries and fifteen operators. He implemented m-commerce products in the last start-up and always wondered why the focus was not on serving customers who had no bank accounts and cards. He exited Six DEE in February 2007 to pursue his vision to promote mobile phones as a financial identity for people at the bottom of the pyramid which was further validated when he won the TIE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge, 2006.
Abhishek holds a BE in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.

Aleeda Fazal, Managing Director, Paradigm Solutions & Consulting
Aleeda Fazal is a highly regarded expert in the field of mobile financial services and has an excellent track record for delivering mobile payment solutions in emerging markets. As Product Manager for Vodafone's M-PESA pilot in Kenya, and as Senior Product Manager for the deployment of M-Paisa in Afghanistan, Aleeda played an instrumental role in the development of the technology and gained valuable experience in the operation of mobile financial services. Aleeda is currently an Advisor for the US Department of Defense on projects that aim to create economic stability in Iraq through the development of the banking sector using mobile telephony.

Norman Frankel, Chief Executive, Mi-Pay
Norman Frankel is a world authority in mobile payments and e-Commerce with over 12 years industry experience in banking, mobile payments, consultancy, systems integration and payment operations.  He has provided advice to companies across Europe, Asia, Far East and Australasia.  His team have written the m-Payment strategies for Telefonica International, MasterCard International, Orange Group, KPN and T-Mobile International and deployed working payment solutions for Vodafone and other operators.
He is founder and Chief Executive of Mi-Pay Ltd, a company specialising in adding value to mobile initiated payment transactions, particularly in the area of pre-paid top-up and remittances. Mi-Pay works with mobile operators, money transfer businesses and banks to reduce pre-pay top-up costs, provide improved customer experiences and innovative mobile payment programmes such as remittances. Customers include in Europe, Operators in the Vodafone Group; KPN Telfort, Tesco Mobile, Carphone Warehouse and in the Middle East, Du, Saraf Mobile and Zain and customers in Africa. Mi-Pay is judged both by client numbers and volume & value of top-up transactions processed the largest independent direct channel top-up service provider in Europe. The company is involved in many exciting mobile initiated payment innovations, including being a lead vendor and advisor to the GSMA Mobile Money Vendors Association for Remittance and Micro-Finance mobile payments, advisor to Clarions Mobile Money Transfer events and recently advisor to IAMTN's remittance education programme.
Prior to this Norman spent 5 years as Group Mobile and e-Commerce Director for Logica Plc, the company that provided the software powering over 70% of the worlds SMS text messages.  His role at Logica encompassed Wireless Internet and Payment Solutions and his team provided advice to banks and mobile operators from Japan through to Europe, which included helping to establish SimPay, which was intended to be a global payment scheme for mobile operators.
Prior to Logica, Norman was Head of New Media Banking at NatWest, now Royal Bank of Scotland and one of the worlds' largest banks, particularly in the area of electronic payments. At NatWest, Norman developed and implemented the banks strategy for point of sale and ATM pre-paid top-up and delivery of financial services via new media and mobile devices. Norman spent over 10 years in Card Services delivering technology led innovations in the Customer Relationship Management, E-commerce and M-Commerce area.
Norman has a postgraduate qualification in International Marketing, International Finance and Strategic Management and holds the Chartered Institute of Marketing diploma.

Ryan Gilbert, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Venrock
In his role at Venrock, a leading global venture capital firm, Ryan focuses on financial services and payments opportunities. He is a partner in 1688 Inc., an early stage investment fund. Ryan was previously Vice President at MoneyGram International, a global payment services company, where he managed the PropertyBridge business unit. Ryan was CEO and co-founder of PropertyBridge and sold the company to MoneyGram in October 2007. Ryan is a member of the State Bar of California, and is also admitted to practice law in the United Kingdom and South Africa. He earned his Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Graham A. N. Wright, Programme Director, MicroSave

Samee Zafar, Director, Edgar, Dunn & Company
Samee is a director in the London office of Edgar, Dunn and Company, a global management consulting firm. Samee has advised some of the world's largest organisations in North America and Europe, working at the Board level.
Samee specialises in payment systems covering retail instruments such as credit, charge, and debit cards and has worked extensively with clients on emerging payments such as internet and mobile payment payments. His functional expertise extends from concept and new product development to strategy formulation, operations and technology implementation and improvement, product roll-out, and profitability enhancement.
He previously held leadership positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers and at Scient Consulting based in New York. He started his career with Visa International in London where he helped banks enhance their payment product profitability.
A highly respected management consultant, Samee has published a number of articles in leading industry journals such as the Electronic Payments International, American Banker and Banking Strategies Magazine. He is a regular speaker at key industry events and has co-authored a book "Developing and Managing a Successful Payment Cards Business" published by Gower Publications.

Simon Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer, Gamos
Simon Batchelor is Director of Gamos Ltd, a consultancy working in social mobilisation to alleviate poverty. Since 2001 he has been a Champion of mobile phone enabled financial services and from 2007 he managed a Framework fund for the Department for International Development on Transformational Mpayments. Simon has worked for 30 years in Africa and Asia. In recent years his work has been mainly with the Department for International Development (UK), the World Bank and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC Canada). Other clients include UN Agencies, Non Governmental Organisations and Governments. Gamos is a UK based private company founded in 1989, and holds or is part of enabling agreements with the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

Rashed Alabbar, Etisalat

Rizza Maniego-Eala, G-Xchange, Inc.

Dare Okoudjou, Formerly Head of Mobile Money International Development, MTN

Serge Elkiner, YellowPepper

To view the speakers at the event, please click here, or if you would like to look at which companies are involved, please follow this link.