Pankaj Gulati enthusiastically describes a particular mobile airtime merchant in Anguilla: "She is a true entrepreneur – she doesn't own a store, or even a real business, in the traditional sense of the word. She simply receives calls for TopUps during her breaks from her day job. She does the TopUps immediately using her mobile phone, and collects payments in the evening." The president and CEO of MoreMagic Solutions has experienced this kind of entrepreneurship firsthand, based on the company's system deployments in more than 30 countries. "With MoreMagic, operators can be creative in offering new services – distribution costs and payment risk are removed from the equation."

MoreMagic Solutions, founded in 1997 and funded by firms that invest in innovation, has posted sustained revenue and profit growth. The Massachusetts-based firm backed by Backed by VC firms like Battery Ventures, Vision Capital, Liberty Mutual offers payments platforms for mobile operators, banks, and content providers, processing more than 300 million transactions each year for companies such as Cable & Wireless, ComCEL, Roshan, Telefonica Moviles (Movistar).

MoreMagic Solutions also serves as the worldwide distribution for mobile operators in other countries. Customers out-of-country can recharge phones back home, at retail stores, or using the Internet or phone. "Help from family and friends gets the subscriber back on the phone – and our mobile operator customers appreciate the significant boost to ARPU."

The opportunity is no longer limited to airtime, either. Subscribers accustomed to recharging mobile phones quickly see the potential of the MoreMagic Solutions mobile wallet, or MWallet. On payday, these customers cash out, make payments, or send cash, and manage accounts.

"MoreMagic customers select us for our technology, our payment mediation platform, and the breadth of the portfolio of services we enable," muses Gulati. More importantly, what adds value is MoreMagic’s experience in service deployment.

"Our team is expert in network integration, systems, and marketing, in diverse markets. Our competitors cannot offer this," concludes Gulati.