The Direct Pay Online Group, (DPO Group), East African online payment service provider announced today that it is acquiring 100% of the equity in Virtual Card Service (“VCS”) in Botswana and Namibia. This will be closely followed by the acquisition of 100% of VCS business in South Africa. The...
National Microfinance Bank Pic (NMB) has partnered with Mastercard with an aim to ensure the digitization of the agricultural sector in Tanzania with the rollout of eKilimo, a mobile solution developed by the Mastercard Lab for Financial Inclusion.
eKilimo, which in Swahili means ‘eAgriculture’, is a digital platform that will...
Over the past two years, mobile payment providers have undoubtedly made an impression on the South African market. That said, there is still widespread scepticism and fear associated with these new platforms. As it stands, there is a palpable imbalance between the available merchant acceptance points for mobile payments,...
The South African fintech startup, Mama Money, announced on Tuesday the expansion of its money transfer service into Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.
The business will expand into Mozambique, Malawi and Kenya by April. It has also earmarked a country outside of Africa for entry later this year. The startup that slashed...
With rapid smartphone penetration in South Africa boosting research and development, it is no surprise that local fintech players are turning their attention towards mobile payment innovation. Mobile payments could be very lucrative in the local market, as elsewhere, but this potential remains largely untapped. We believe that banks...
Have we seen the peak of internet banking in South Africa? Although the banks are quite tight-lipped about their usage numbers, I suspect that the number of customers using a desktop computer to do their banking is declining.
We know that the majority of logons come from office workers, but...
South Africans have rated FNB Digital Channels as the best in the country amongst competitors in the latest South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SACSI) survey results.
Yolande Steyn, Head of Innovation at FNB says “We are honoured to receive this accolade for the fifth year running. This achievement would not...
Mastercard and Unilever has announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on a range of joint initiatives aimed at empowering small and micro businesses in emerging markets. The companies intend to unlock economic growth and further advance specific Sustainable Development Goals such as poverty reduction and sustainable cities and communities.
According...
South African mobile operator, Cell C has entered an agreement which will see Blue Label telecoms acquire a 45% stake in Cell C as part of its recapitalisation programme.
Reports have surfaced that there is also a third party; an unnamed firm that plans to invest over R2bn in exchange for a...
As crucial as BitCoin may be to the growing global financial markets and as much as it may revolutionise concepts relating to payment and economic freedom, its volatile market value, reports of hacking and theft and alleged dalliance with the "dark web" has resulted in the perpetuation of the...
According to KPMG International’s The Pulse of Fintech, a quarterly report on global fintech investment, 2016 experienced a decline in the market with a 47.2% slide in fintech investment, this is after 2015’s record-setting US$46.7 billion in total global funding to fintech companies. The 2016 fintech funding total of...
On Monday the 50-year long monopoly enjoyed by the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) ended as South Africa’s first alternative exchange- ZAR X made its debut with the listing of agri-business Senwes and its holding company Senwes Beleggings (Senwesbel) according to a report by MoneyWeb.
A report by Fin24 stated that since...
In a bid to increase internet penetration in South Africa, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has announced in the 2017 Budget Speech, that the Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services is set to receive R1.9bn over the medium term to invest in high-speed internet connections in public buildings and schools...
Budget Speech 2017/18 cushions the blows of a weak economy for the poor and asks the wealthy to pay more.
With the South African government facing a R28 billion shortfall in tax revenue collection, Budget Speech 2017/18 was never going to have much good news for consumers and business builders....
Facebook users in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe can now use Facebook Messenger to send and receive money. TransferWise, a money transfer company launched the service on the Facebook chat application. The feature can also be used to set up exchange rates.
TransferWise was launched in 2011 by...
Blockchain is undoubtedly one of the hottest topics in the tech industry.
When people think of Blockchain their initial thought lean towards cryptocurrencies and fintech; it is however far more than just a new payment system. Blockchain can potentially revolutionise how transactions over the Internet take place altogether. Blockchain uses cryptography...
