Middle East ride-hailing business Careem announced on Thursday the launch of mobile recharge payment services via Careem Pay wallet across Egypt, the UAE, and Pakistan. The services would soon be launched in Jordan, Careem said in a statement. Careem entered the payments space with closed-loop peer to peer transfers in November 2018 as part of a broader, ambitious payment strategy. The Careem PAY has become the most downloaded wallet in the Middle East region. One in three rides booked by Careem customers are paid for via the Careem PAY wallet. "Our wallet is the most downloaded digital wallet in the market and we will continue to add more products and services that can be paid for through our platform." managing director of Careem PAY, Junaid Iqbal said. As Careem moves towards its super app strategy, payments capabilities will be a critical enabler to offering multiple products and services and being host to third parties. "With only 14 percent of the region holding a bank account, there is a massive opportunity for us to serve this unaddressed audience and enable them to participate in digital finance." Iqbal added. "Providing the option to purchase mobile recharge credit is the beginning of many more ways in which we aim to simplify and improve our customers' lives." How customers purchase mobile credit within the Careem app 1. Update to the latest Careem app for Android 2. Open the Careem PAY Wallet screen 3. Tap on ‘Mobile Recharge' 4. Enter or select from contact list the mobile number that you'd like to recharge 5. Select or enter the Recharge Amount 6. Confirm payment. The credit will be added directly to the receiver's number
