MTN Homeland
MTN is ramping up its efforts to enhance access to digital and financial services for its customers. The company’s latest fintech innovation is a mobile remittance application – MTN Homeland – aimed at facilitating money and airtime transfers from Europe to Africa and parts of the Middle East.
MTN Homeland allows remittances from Europe to Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Rwanda and Uganda, while airtime can be sent to Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
MTN Homeland also supports MTN’s contribution to the achievement of the tenth UN Sustainable Development Goal, which is to reduce inequality within and among countries. One of these SDG’s targets is to reduce the price of remittances to under 3% of the value of the remittance into Africa. MTN Homeland has been priced with that target in mind.
Platform: Any device with an up-to-date Internet browser
Expect to pay: A free service
Stockists: Visit MTN Homeland here
Read more about FNB’s increased usage in eWallets, Nedbank’s new Money Lite app, Afri Ride app for ride sharing, and iKhokha Vend.
FNB’s eWallet volume explodes
FNB expected a 26% increase in eWallet funds volume sent during the festive season. During 2018’s festive season the bank’s customers sent over R2.4-billion worth of eWallet funds, so 2019 should see the festive season total reach R3-billion.
FNB Consumer CEO Christoph Nieuwoudt says: “Over the years we have seen substantial growth in eWallet volumes during the festive season. eWallet provides our customers with simplicity, convenience and security when sending money. This offering has become top of mind amongst South Africans when looking for easy ways to send money.”
For the current year, FNB’s data revealed that consumers in Gauteng are the top senders of eWallet funds, at 47%, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 14%, and Western Cape at 10%. Other provinces completing the top six are Eastern Cape at 9%, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northwest jointly at 5%. Free State came in last at 4%.
Platform: Most devices with an up-to-date Internet browser
Expect to pay: A free service
Stockists: Customers can send eWallet using all electronic platforms like the FNB App, smartphones, through FNB’s website at FNB.co.za and ATMs nationwide. Recipients can instantly access their funds by simply dialling *120*277#.
Read more about Nedbank’s new Money Lite app, Afri Ride app for ride sharing, and iKhokha Vend.
Nedbank’s Money App Lite
Nedbank’s new Money App Lite is designed to be a more streamlined and a lighter version of the Nedbank Money App.
Money App Lite balances rich digital banking experiences with the need to ensure access for all clients, including those with limited data or device memory.
According to Stelios Vakis, Digital Executive for Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, it is important to realise that, as the recently launched Affordability Report indicates, the average cost of 1 Gb of data is 7.12% of an average monthly salary. Combine this with the fact that South Africa’s data prices are among the highest on the continent and we have a significant challenge around accessibility.
Platform: Android
Stockists: Visit Nedbank here for downloading instructions
Expect to pay: A free download
Read more about Afri Ride app for ride sharing, and iKhokha Vend.
Afri Ride
Afri Ride, a ride sharing mobile app with tailor-made solutions for the African traveling community, is now available in South Africa, and promises to expand into other African markets in the near future.
Users upload their travel details, such as the start and end location, travel date and the number of empty seats that are available in their vehicle. This then allows all those heading in the same direction to book seats on a ride that is already happening.
“The most wasted resources, from a vehicle capacity standpoint, are the empty seats in moving cars,” says the company’s MD, Joe Moyo. “The idea behind Afri Ride is to make use of existing resources by offering the unoccupied seats in your car, or offering your car for rental.”
Economic and other factors have made owning a car more of a challenge than ever before. With the average number of car repossessions ranging from 600 to 1,500 cars per month, it is easy to assume that car owners are battling to meet their financial obligations.
According to the Associations of Automobiles (AA), there are more people that need transport than there are rides. “So what better way than to provide a platform for the people who need the rides, basically a platform that safely connects travellers?”
Economic and other factors have made being a car owner more of a challenge than ever before – with the average number of car repossessions ranging from 600 to1,500 cars per month. It is easy to assume that car owners are battling to sufficiently meet all their financial obligations. In order to circumvent vehicle repossessions, Afri Ride in effect subsidises the expenses associated with car ownership. “A car parked in a garage is not only depreciating in value but also running up the owner’s bill by way of insurance”, says Moyo.
Safety of the entire Afri Ride community is of paramount importance, he says. As a result, Afri Ride has integrated a chat service (Mbira Chat) that allows users to communicate (live location, texting, voice call or video call), even before booking the seat or car. Afri Ride also protects its users’ money, by facilitating all payments through a 3D secure platform.
Platform: Android and iOS
Expect to pay: A free download
Stockists: For downloading instruction click here.
Read more about iKhokha Vend.
iKhokha, which provides mobile payment solutions to independent businesses, has partnered with the Massmart Group to launch new prepaid products and services. These facilitate payments for cellular services like prepaid airtime and data bundles, prepaid utilities such as electricity and water, as well as payments for DSTV, Telkom, Pay@, Easypay, traffic fines and municipal bills.
iKhokha CEO, Matt Putman, says: “In the informal market prepaid has always been a heavily cash-based service. In this tough economy our small and medium enterprise (SME) customers are looking for increased security as well as new income streams. We have developed a digital solution called iKhokha Vend, built on our existing retail distribution partnership with the Massmart Group. This enables SMEs to purchase a card machine in any Game, Builders Warehouse or Makro store nationally. The prepaid partnership now allows us to take advantage of Massmart’s significant buying power with prepaid suppliers, so that we can collectively pass on the additional value to our iKhokha SME merchant base.”
Platform: Android and iOS
Expect today: A free download
Stockists: Visit iKhokha here for downloading instructions