Ding, an international mobile top-up platform, continues its Middle East expansion in a deal to provide mobile top-up across ZOOM convenience stores in the UAE. Ding’s service will now be offered across all 200+ ZOOM convenience stores located at every ENOC and EPPCO service station in the UAE – which serve around 46 million customers every year.
Customers will have access to Ding’s network of 500+ mobile operators, across 140+ countries enabling them to send international top-up to families back home in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Philippines, amongst others. Commenting on the deal, Muhannad Hassan, Ding’s General Manager for Asia and the Middle East said, “This partnership introduces Ding to millions of customers who frequent ENOC service stations every day across the UAE. This also gives expat workers another way to support their families back home by sending airtime and data to the phones of loved ones.”
International top-up, which is the most efficient micro-value transfer option in the market, has long been seen by UAE expatriates as a convenient add-on to cash remittance – when supporting their families. Commenting on the new partnership, Zaid Alqufaidi, Managing Director, ENOC Retail, said, “Enhanced customer experience and service excellence has always been our top priority and we continuously work towards offering innovative services to our customers. We are delighted to partner with Ding in helping our customers stay connected with their families and we look forward to drive enhanced customer choice and value in our stores.”
The UAE is a popular destination for the diaspora – with expatriates making up the majority of the population, or approximately 80%. Many are supporting family back home in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Philippines – where on average 95% of phones are prepaid and in need of top-up. The UAE is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in Western Asia, with two main operators and almost 19 million mobile phone connections, of which 83% of these phones are prepaid or pay-as-you-go phones, according to GSMA statistics.
