How to get water from a (mobile) wallet
Mark Zuckerberg is going to be the saviour of mankind by wiping out disease by the year 2100 and is willing to finance this through his vast wealth. That way we can all live forever under the gentle patronage of Overlord Zuckerberg. I say this because when someone announces something on this kind of scale, one cannot help but marvel at the arrogance of it all. Help people yes. Use technology to make the world a better place to live - check. Announce the use of your billions to help eradicate disease? God syndrome.
I am, and have always been, a firm believer in using technology to help mankind. I know, it’s a little difficult in our industry to imagine how much time we spend discussing contactless payments and mobile wallets - but occasionally we DO get to do some good. The charity workshops and contactless donations schemes are a good indicator of what can be done in the more developed regions of the world. But how would a mobile wallet bring benefits to those who are, perhaps, in need of clean drinking water?
Good question and the answer lies in an ATM that dispenses not money but water. Never heard of such a thing? Then let me enlighten you about a small news release that came my way this week concerning just those elements; clean drinking water, an ATM and a mobile wallet.
Ericsson is working with a Scandinavian company, Grundfos, to offer a solution that improves access and payments for drinking water. The collaboration helps connect mobile wallet providers and water service providers with the aim of simplifying access for the end consumer. It involves the Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect that provides a global payments hub for mobile payment services, and the Grundfos AQtap, a water ATM that dispenses water and supports sustainable water management. The solution is expected to drive more efficient revenue collection with reduced cash management risks and overhead costs, and is now being deployed Kenya.
Peter Todbjerg Hansen, Managing Director of Grundfos Lifelink said,”This is a perfect example of two global corporations integrating their technologies to offer a complete water ATM solution previously unknown to the world. It is now possible to pay for water with mobile money, and water revenue collection is safe and automated."
Just so the cynical amongst you don’t think this a way to take advantage of those less fortunate, know that the revenue collection plays an important part in securing reliable access to drinking water, as water supply points have been known to fail due to lack of funds, and capacity for operations and maintenance. Furthermore transparency and control of water price are critical to sustainable and pro-poor water supply services. Grundfos addresses this with automated and connected water kiosks, also known as water ATMs, that offer an integrated solution for dispensing and remotely managing water supply points in both rural and urban areas. The Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect enables mobile wallet service providers globally to add the connected water kiosks as a new consumer utility service in their payments acceptance portfolio thereby helping to drive cashless transactions and usage of the mobile wallet
"The work that Ericsson is doing with Grundfos is crucial to reducing the cost and deployment times of these innovative ATMs that will deliver a more reliable water supply. It simplifies the payment process by taking cash out of the equation and our solution removes the need for water service providers to integrate with every mobile wallet provider used by people in the country. With Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect, any mobile wallet service from any service provider in any region can be used to provide payment. Enabling access to water will support social and financial inclusion, and enable the sustainable development of local communities, potentially impacting millions of people. This is what we mean by Technology for Good,” commented Peter Heuman, Head of M-Commerce at Ericsson.
The scope of the collaboration is global, and is especially relevant in developing countries, where water service providers constantly strive to improve the efficiency and financial viability of water projects for better access to financing of water infrastructure maintenance and expansion.
"With the AQtap water ATM and its revenue collection platform powered by mobile payment, our innovation can play a part in removing some of the key pain points around how water is paid for and revenue streams secured. This enables us to support water service providers in supplying citizens with sustainable access to water," concludes Peter Todbjerg Hansen.
It can sound strange that the further use of the mobile wallet can enable such objects as water-based ATMs to function but at least we can see another more humane role for the technology. Ultimately, however strange an idea, if it helps people then surely it’s not a bad thing?
Just don’t expect to see one in the high street any time soon.
Steve Atkins
Contactless Intelligence
