FNB has announced that consumers can now use eWallet to purchase goods and withdraw cash at participating owner-managed SPAR stores in South Africa.
Aptly called eWallet@till, the cardless functionality uses a cellphone to enable eWallet recipients to make over the counter purchases and withdrawals at over 1300 participating SPAR outlets.
Sandi Madikiza, FNB Head of Mass Market Segment: Consumer Core Banking: says, “The partnership complements our long-term digital strategy to expand access to financial services. Our customers are increasingly making cardless withdrawals at our ATMs and we see this becoming a common trend where mobile technology is preferred instead of the physical cards.”
“The use of technology helps to reduce the cost of withdrawals while enabling customers to get access to their money whenever they need it. Over the past few months, we’ve been introducing the eWallet@till functionality through a phased approach and we have already seen increased usage among customers,” he says.
FNB’s user data of eWallet@till shows a sharp spike in usage across select provinces in December 2017, with 53% transactions taking place in Limpopo, followed by Gauteng at 32% and KwaZulu-Natal with 10% as well as the Eastern Cape with about 5% of transactions.
According to the findings of the FinScope South Africa survey, mobile money solutions continue to play a vital role in broadening financial inclusion. The survey shows that in 2017, 71% of senders are sending money once a month to people outside of the household. Furthermore, the study showed that consumers have a propensity to use both mobile and retailer to send and receive money.
Madikiza says in the long run, the use of mobile technology will most likely become the primary channel through which consumers manage their money.
“The persistent adoption of smart technology will remain the single biggest contributor to the adoption of solutions such as eWallet, among other financial services products. Already, we are seeing a growing number of customers who are using the FNB banking app to access eWallet, and we expect this trend to improve significantly overtime,” he concludes.
