Star Telecom has received the Silver Stevie Award for Innovation in Consumer Products and Services for its u-money e-commerce solution.
The telecom firm took home the award for its u-money e-wallet service at the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, where more than 1,000 companies from 29 countries were in the running.
The u-money service is a product of Star Fintech, a subsidiary of Star Telecom (Unitel).
Star Fintech began providing the u-money service under the supervision of and in line with regulations of the Bank of the Lao PDR by developing, researching and designing the e-commerce system.
The company was given expert advice by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in 2014 to develop u-money for creating more quality to services and meet the needs of the Lao people.
Since the pilot program began in August 2018, u-money now has more than 10,000 agents and almost 100,000 phone numbers using the service nationwide.
The u-money system is an electronic wallet facilitating services such as funds transfers and cash withdrawals, which can be made at Unitel point of sale counters.
It is able to provide payment and funds transfer services and can be used for payment of wages and salaries for businesses and public sector organizations.
