Paymee, revolution in mobile and online payment for Tunisian economy founded by Tunisian ICT engineer Marwen Amamou

         “Dream big, work hard and stay humble”  Marwen Amamou

The worldwide mobile payment revenue in 2015 was 450 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to surpass 1 trillion U.S. dollars in 2019.
The spread of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets has led to the strong growth of mobile commerce. In the fourth quarter of 2016, mobile e-commerce spending in the United States amounted to 22.7 billion US dollars according to the statistics portal statista.

Tunisia which is a country that fully adheres in the technological evolution is making its way to integrate the mobile and online payment in the daily lives of its actors.

Founded by Computer Engineer Marwen Amamou, Paymee meets the needs of the Tunisian traders and their customers by creating a mobile application.

It helps to pay a merchant, to receive the payments of the customers and to send money between friends and relatives.

Paymee also allows any e-commerce site to accept payments online using the secure payment gateway.

Besides, Paymee offers a product that meets the needs of small businesses, online stores, individuals and other structures for which traditional payment methods are not suitable.

Tunisian young computer and information technology engineer and founder of Paymee Marwen Amamou took part in a series of seminars in particular on digital banking that was held early October 2018 in association with the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) and on the initiative of the National Federation of Digital, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) and the Professional Association of Banks. He also participated in another event on e-commerce in Tunisia, opportunities, and challenges under the patronage of the Trade Ministry. 

Marwen Amamou was present in this event to positively contribute in the digital banking sector in Tunisia and provide his know-how as CEO of Paymee that he founded in March 2018 in Paris, in a bid to give assistance to his homeland in these difficult  circumstances it is going through, namely the persisting economic crisis which is due to informal trade, money laundering, and smuggling.

According to statistics from the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT), the volume of cash circulating outside the organized banking system circuit varies between 3 to 4 billion dinars. The Central Bank of Tunisia is endeavoring to develop digital operations to bring this situation under control and to establish a transparent system of electronic payment.

Living in Paris where he started his own business and startups, Marwen Amamou resumed  Tunis to take part in events pertaining to his specialties as computer science engineers with an exclusive research in the mobile applications of electronic payment and trade.

In a spirit of patriotism and love to the homeland, he revealed to TunisianMonitorOnline in an interview on this occasion, his professional path and passion to information technology and computer science since his first visit to France seeking better opportunities to establish his own business.

“My love for information technology started at school when I was in the baccalaureate”, he said, revealing the first programme he sold was in the baccalaureate for driving schools, by responding to his sense of entrepreneurship, while acquiring a great experience as he had worked as freelancer with renowned ICT companies by means of making projects in this area.

Marwen Amamou talked about his three-year study of computer science in the Higher Institute of Computer Science (ISI) of Ariana in Tunis that was crowned by a graduation.

Answering his eagerness because his expectations were great, he left for France to continue his post-graduate studies to satisfy his insatiable thirst for science knowledge and reach the status of an engineer. The Tunisian smart young computer engineer revealed that he was not able to stay in Tunisia because he failed to reach the grade required in Mathematics, though he was very brilliant in Computer science.

Like many young people in Europe, Marwen Amamou worked concurrently with his studies, the aim being to be independent financially and improve his competence as a future engineer.

Considering the entrepreneurship world as a big dream, immediately after ending his years of studies at the university in Paris, Marwen Amamou demonstrated the keenness to start a business in the area of computer science that he launched in 2015, which was his first start-up called “AlertOns”.

It is, in fact, a mobile application that concerns, the civil defense, through which citizens have the ability to report any abnormal acts in the street and around, to the online community.  @AlertOns’ primary service is to warn people when various incidents might be occurring such as aggression, robbery or fire to easily spot using this application of social innovative features.

The idea was meant for public service and was highly appreciated by the French Ministry of the Interior, but the presidential election and the appointment of a new cabinet coincide with the development of the project ” explained Marwen Amamou adding  that the idea behind his first startup “Alertons “, was also to sell the data collected on a particular neighborhood.

The Tunisian young computer engineer made it clear for him and the people around that one must not give up at the first stumbling.

So he went through a new experience and a new adventure after the first project that has never been established though it had aroused the appreciation of the former French cabinet.

The new company he developed was in fact based on the information he gathered about the hotels’ needs in workforce and services and the problems observed in the hotel sector.  “Otelib” is a service that connects hotel managers and receptionists. So far, “Otelib” is working -with the large-scale hotels chains such as “Barrier”.

Marwen Amamou asserted that his business in Paris achieved the hoped-for success, bearing in mind that returning to the homeland is a patriotic duty and that his contribution in Tunisia’s economic transition is an urgent need after noting the deep economic crisis due to the cash availability outside the legal circuit.

The idea of finding a way to limit and circumvent the hemorrhage of money laundering and smuggling was materialized in his founding of the new company that he named Paymee.

After observing the large-scale expansion of mobile phone payment services in France and around the world, Marwen Amamou decided to develop his own system for the Tunisian market.

Because he believes that his country Tunisia is at the top priority of his concerns, he strove to find adequate solutions to the issue of cash payment because it costs the country huge sums of money that are wandering in the informal markets.

“In Tunisia, only 27% of the population has a bank account so using a credit card is nearly absent which makes this new means of paying a huge field of action “he asserted.

In addition to the fact that Paymee provides a real-time payment from telephone to telephone, it is also a gateway of payment, for the sites of e-commerce, allowing transfers of telephone money to bank account. It can be downloaded directly from Google Play store and has a high level of transaction security, Marwen Amamou explained, stressing that Paymee is a new payment method in the form of a mobile application. 

He said that as Tunisia is stepping up the technological revolution, its integration in the mobile payment in the daily life of its people is an urgent must. Paymee came to bridge this gap and provide the right solution.

To make the most of Paymee’s advantages, simply one can install the application from the Google Play Store or App Store and create an account Marwen Amamou showed,  specifying that the application sends to the subscriber a code by SMS to confirm the registration. Once registered, a unique reference is assigned to the account, the Tunisian young engineer explained.

Immediately after its launch online, several Tunisian start-ups and companies such as “Dabchi.com” or “Bountou1X2” have shown interest in this new technique and have requested its implementation, he said enthusiastically, reporting: “we are today holding talks with Jumia.com.tn, for the creation of their online payment gateway”.

“When I moved to Tunis to legally create the company, I was impressed by the efficiency of the administration. The opposite of what is usually observed. The idea was well welcomed and I was well served  Amamou revealed.

The payment of market transactions, the transfer of money to relatives, the possibility of receiving a salary via a simple mobile phone is now a palpable reality in several countries in Africa, the Middle East or even Asia.

Paymee has now over 2,000 subscribers. For Marwen Amamou it is a bet that the company has won since it is now working with huge potential, which will not break down any time soon.

“Addressing a message to the Tunisian youth, Marwen Amamou urges them to dream big, work hard and, above all, remain humble.

TunisianMonitorOnline (MNHN)

 

 

 

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