With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement set to generate combined consumer and business spending of $6.7 trillion by 2030[i], the continent requires payment platforms to cater for this growth. To this end, Pay@ – a leading South African payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions – will be expanding into several African countries and providing […]
Category Archives: Fintech
Fintech Africa
Millions of unbanked and financially excluded residents in DRC to gain access to formal financial and digital services Mastercard’s technology to enable development of diverse digital payment solutions Partnership is aligned with DRC’s National Digital Plan (NDP) Mastercard has partnered with Billetera – a digital payments technology company headquartered in Kenya – to provide millions […]
Leading Customer Experience Platform for Africa to Integrate Intelligent Messaging and Payments Platform Across its Product Suite Ajua, the integrated Customer Experience Management solution for businesses in Africa, has acquired WayaWaya, the Kenya-based Artificial Intelligence [AI] and Machine Learning [ML] known for its innovative Janja platform, that enables borderless banking and payments across apps and […]
Creating loyal customers that purchase your products and services for life is the dream. Increasing customer lifetime value creates stability for your business and allows you to innovate new products and services that keep finance customers returning to your brand again and again. To end the feast and famine cycle, companies need to increase customer […]
Transition will reduce CO2 emissions by 161 tonnes a year, and save 73 tonnes of plastic per year HSBC is announcing a new programme to introduce sustainable payment cards across all its global locations. By the end of 2026 it will eliminate single-use PVC plastic, in favour of recycled PVC plastic (rPVC). The programme – which […]
Fintech, Kenya News
Affordable digital banking to revolutionise price-sensitive East African payments market
In a region still dominated by cash and mobile money options, like M-Pesa, new collaborations between fintechs are looking to capture the price-sensitive market with innovative, open-loop digital payment solutions in East Africa. According to Mark Dankworth, President International, Ukheshe Technologies, the region is poised for a surge in digital banking growth, with the likes of […]
Country’s first prepaid and contactless travel card will enable Ethiopians to travel with USD or EUR currencies Zemen Bank has announced a partnership with Mastercard that will see the introduction of the first ever Mastercard branded prepaid contactless travel card in Ethiopia. Zemen Mastercard prepaid travel cards will enable cardholders to use cards with […]
Bitcoin investors should be braced for – but not put off by – “much greater government scrutiny,” warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and fintech organizations. The warning from Nigel Green, CEO and founder of deVere Group, comes on the day Coinbase, the biggest cryptocurrency platform in the U.S., […]
It is predicted that there will be 7,5 billion Internet users by 2030 and that more than 111 billion lines of new software code is produced each year. While the growth is exciting, these statistics also outline the number of vulnerabilities open to exploitation. Together with an estimated 96 zettabytes of digital content currently produced, this […]
By Prenisha Govender, Associate and Keketso Kgomosotho, Candidate Attorney, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg. The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies worldwide, which is increasingly leading to its stronger footing in international business, has awakened tax authorities everywhere to a possible new revenue stream from unreported gains. Over recent years, we’ve seen a marked increase in crackdowns […]
Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today announces the signing of an agreement under which Mastercard, a leading innovator and global technology company in the payments industry, will invest $100m in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (“AMC BV”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel […]
GSMA has published last week its annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’. It reveals a dramatic acceleration in mobile transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown restrictions limited access to cash and financial institutions. The report found that the number of registered accounts grew by 13 per cent globally in 2020 to […]
Airtel Africa to explore potential listing of mobile money business within four years. Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, announced on 18th March the signing of an agreement under which The Rise Fund, the global impact investing platform of leading alternative investment […]
Leading digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies, together with Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, have developed South Africa’s very first WhatsApp payment gateway for use by Telkom, one of the country’s largest mobile operators. In addition to being South Africa’s first digital […]
– Telcos in the region lag behind the rest of the world significantly in developing roadmaps to digitalize sales channels. – More than 70% of telcos in LATAM and Europe already have established roadmaps, and more than 80% of telcos in APAC have a digitalization strategy. Fewer than three in 10 telecommunications operators in Africa […]
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be hosting the country’s first Smart City conference which will be taking place virtually from 16 to 18 April 2021. Driving this is Congo Bulaya, a subsidiary initiative of the Centre d’Innovation de Lubumbashi (CINOLU), which aims to actively participate in the creation of more competitive and vibrant cities […]
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have long been hailed as the lifeblood of the economy. Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, they are critical for its recovery. Not only do they contribute 35-50% of national GDP globally, they also drive over two-thirds of new job creation[i]. Ultimately, the more SMEs succeed, the better our […]
Fintech, Tech
2021 will demand continued user experience and change management focus according to e4
A dogged commitment to change execution is how businesses will survive in 2021, according to Grant Phillips CEO of fintech specialist, e4. He says the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked industry-wide havoc, the headwinds of which will continue to blow for years to come, leaving businesses in an almost permanent state of evolution and change. “Despite the […]
Leading South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies has confirmed it is expanding its operations internationally. Having established itself as a formidable payment technology specialist within the B2B sector, the company has set its sights on the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific. The move comes on the back of several successful high-profile projects and partnerships […]
Fintech, South Africa News
Immense impact of 4IR technologies on African economies to be addressed through South African lawyer’s World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution fellowship
Ashlin Perumall, Senior Associate at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, South Africa, has taken up the role of Fellow at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in San Francisco. As part of his C4IR Fellowship, Perumall has joined the blockchain and digital currency working group, working on the legal and […]
Fintech, South Africa News
Telephonic payment solution helps companies deal with Covid-19 challenges
VerPay enables verbal commerce as businesses adapt to serve their customers in contactless ways The novel Coronavirus has necessitated the need for a sharp step change across nearly every facet of daily life; which has, in turn, rendered the payments landscape ripe for innovation. “The pandemic has forced us all to do business in new ways, and […]
Fintech, Nigeria News
The lessons of 2020 are driving trends in business leadership and Fintech for 2021, says Innovate1Pay Chairman Mahmood Ahmadu
Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Chairman of Nigerian Fintech firm Innovate1Pay, Mahmood Ahmadu has shared his vision for 2021, as businesses reopen in the new normal. Drawing on the pragmatic leadership required in a highly disruptive 2020, and the positive impact of Fintech during the crisis, Mr Ahmadu believes that the building on these lessons will be […]