2020 marked the digital transformation boom in the finance and banking sector. Following the new digitalization trend, various banks and financial institutions have launched their smart applications in the Middle East and Africa region. As one of the leaders in technology with a large audience base, major banks in the region have joined Huawei’s official distribution platform, AppGallery, one of the top three marketplaces globally with more than 530 million monthly active users across 170 countries.
The platform now has 2.3 million registered developers globally, with more than 45,000 developers from the Middle East and Africa. Since last year, leading banking apps have been integrated within AppGallery in Ghana enabling users access their bank accounts on-the-go from the convenience of their mobile devices 24/7 and manage digitally various banking operations such as money transfer, bill payments and much more. Huawei users in Ghana can now download quickly and safely many banking apps available on the AppGallery such as: Absa, GCB and Prudential Bank.
Supporting partners at the heart of Huawei’s strategy
Technical Support
By joining the Huawei ecosystem, developers are always at the heart of Huawei strategy. Throughout the whole process, from the apps’ integration within AppGallery until the official launch of the banking app on the distribution platform, Huawei provides full-spectrum operational support, data analytics, and marketing to its partners by mobilizing local resources from diverse departments. Huawei’s ecosystem team in charge of the technical support works alongside the developer in every integration step. It ensures the mobile app is successfully integrated within the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). Thanks to its open capabilities, the HMS Core enables traditional sectors (Like banking) to fast-track digital transformation and help developers within the industry use its innovative technology to offer high-quality apps to their users.
Marketing support
Huawei’s support does not end after the integration process; banks can also extend their partnerships with AppGallery and benefit from various co-branded campaigns to unlock more business opportunities and brand exposure. From End to end digital acquisition, product & offers amplification, ecommerce partnership for card spends, referral programs, app engagement & registrations to 360 integrated joint marketing campaigns – the options are limitless. To date, several partners from the banking industry have benefited from these campaigns. They have seen successful results and up to 200% increase in app exposure and downloads from the AppGallery.
Lu Geng, Vice President Middle East, and Africa Global Partnerships & Eco-Development, said: “The rapid growth of AppGallery portfolio within the financial and banking app industry in the Middle East and Africa is a result of our continuous effort on working closely with local entities and supporting them from various perspectives. It also pursues our aim to integrate innovative and high-quality apps, providing Huawei users with the most relevant local and global apps”.
AppGallery is a secured platform where users can download apps
AppGallery deploys a series of privacy and security measures, ensuring users a safe and convenient platform to download apps from.
In terms of data protection, the highest level of verification to isolate and protect users’ sensitive data and privacy has been made in place, personally-sensitive information (such as biometric data) will not be processed outside the Huawei device, giving the complete user control over their personal data. During installation, AppGallery protects app data from being read for nefarious purposes and avoids the irreparable loss caused by user data leakage via procedures such as sandboxing, memory protection, regular backtesting, and customer service feedback. Moreover, the platform can detect malicious app behavior like eavesdropping on users, monitor users, and take screenshots or screen recordings without authorization. It also conducts privacy disclosure inspections for apps that call, collect, or upload sensitive data from users without permission.
For apps that incorporate biometric payment services such as fingerprint or facial recognition, Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) Operating System used within Huawei Mobile Services ecosystem. Finally, by integrating intelligent detection methods with manual real-name authentication, AppGallery provides full-fledged coverage that protects users against any conceivable threat.