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This is a pretty fascinating play on mobile banking. BitSIM has developed a small, zero-footprint "card" that attaches to any SIM, turning it into a bitcoin wallet that permits user to send/receive bitcoin via NFC or encrypted SMS without using carriers' mobile money services. The value proposition, then, is not only that the wallet uses bitcoin but it bypasses any transaction fees ordinarily associated with mobile money transfer--fees that can be quite expensive.
As intersting as this services is, however, there are a few obvious question. For one, it is not at all clear yet how BitSIMs obtain BTC in the first place or "top up" once they are depleted. Second, there is certainly still a need for processing payments into local fiat, e.g. via partnerships with companies like BitPay, Coins.ph, or an exchange. BitSIM's target is the underbanked population, both of these are necessary for success since bitcoin is not only hard to come by, but almost nobody accepts it as payment.
BitSIM is a thin, flexible card that can be stuck on any existing SIM card as an add-on hardware layer. BitSIM converts the SIM card into a fully encrypted bitcoin wallet compatible with a wide range of cell phones, including cheap and unsophisticated feature phones. “BitSIM puts bitcoins on any SIM, on any mobile phone, for mass adoption and frictionless ecosystem uptake,” claims the BitSIM website. Users will be able to pay locally with NFC-enabled phones, but also send and receive bitcoin with a simple SMS to other users anywhere in the world.
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/20054/bitsim-adds-secure-hardware-wallet-phone/
