Vodacom Financial Services has announced a partnership with Alipay to launch a new app platform.<\/p>\n
Mariam Cassim, chief executive officer of Vodacom Financial and Digital Services, says that consumers will have the ability to easily and affordably transact through the app, and\u00a0keep track of their monthly spend with each merchant they transact with every day.<\/p>\n
Cassim said that the app will also allow access to digital lifestyle services such as streaming music, games and videos, e-news, and cab-hailing.<\/p>\n
A number of merchants have also partnered with the service to offer shopping through the app.<\/p>\n
“We live in a country where the cost of cash-less transacting is quite high for small merchants and large FMCG companies struggle to reach or communicate directly with the end distributor of their products,” said Cassim.<\/p>\n
“Vodacom Financial Services aims to link South African merchants, suppliers and consumers on one affordable platform. The primary focus of every development on this super-app is to deliver a seamless and value-adding experience to everyone who uses it, in a cost-efficient way.”<\/p>\n
The mobile payment platform will also be integrated into the physical footprint of Vodacom\u2019s VodaPay Point of Sale devices, offering merchants a single-payments processing solution for physical and mobile commerce.<\/p>\n
This will allow it to help previously underserviced SMEs access to the best financial services solutions such as lending through VodaLend, access to business Insurance products as well as being able to seamlessly order products from suppliers.<\/p>\n
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom group chief executive officer, said that the group plans to use the app to ‘reinvent’ the mobile fintech ecosystem for both consumers and merchants in South Africa.<\/p>\n
“This partnership is a significant milestone in promoting greater financial inclusion within the communities in which we operate, accelerating our financial services aspirations across Africa.<\/p>\n
“We already offer South African customers an ecosystem of innovative digital financial services products, but this technology partnership with Alipay will enable us to be on par with leading global digital counterparts quicker and more efficiently,” he said.<\/p>\n