Many South Africans do not qualify for a credit card. This could be either because they are too young or do no not have the disposable income to qualify for one. However, mimoney believes just because South Africans don’t have a credit card, this doesn’t mean that they should not be able to shop on the Internet. With backing from Standard Bank, mimoney feels that its latest offering will close this gap.
One of South Africa’s largest e-tailers, eDreams.co.za, has announced that the Internet shopping service will be accepting mimoney as a way of paying for goods on the site.
eDreams.co.za offers quality technology goods, entertainment items and other household branded goods at discounted prices, and is the latest e-tailer to sign up with mimoney, offering it as a payment option alongside credit card payments, EFT and eBucks.
‚There’s no doubt that Internet access and usage has grown tremendously in recent times across market segments, thanks particularly to 3G and Internet-enabled cell phones, and we expect this to have an impact on the number of users discovering the convenience of e-commerce,‚ says Zane Zietsman, Managing Director at eDreams.co.za.
Due to the nature of the South African consumer market and the status of the Internet in the country, online shopping sites like eDreams.co.za need to ensure that their services are accessible to as many Internet users as possible, regardless of whether these users have a credit card or not.
mimoney is a South African innovation powered by Standard Bank that gives credit card-less individuals the ability to make purchases online. While this could translate into a significant boost for the local Internet economy, it also affects the economy at large, as payments become easier, faster and safer, and more people are equipped with electronic payment options and electronic ways of getting paid.
The power to transact online
‚The youth market has the disposable income (estimated at R80 billion rand in 2008) to be influential online consumers. They have been restricted by a lack of access to credit cards and other online payment mechanisms,‚ says Zietsman. ‚But what mimoney does, is give the youth a way of making the most of the deals on our site, without the risk or the dependency on Dad’s credit card.‚
John Campbell, Business Manager at mimoney adds, ‚While developing mimoney, we took into account the need for a secure and simple electronic payment mechanism that would empower young people and South Africa’s vast informal cash economy with the ability to transact online. The challenge was not just to serve the needs of the wealthy, but also to make a solution that works for the average South African.‚
‚mimoney provides a safe and suitable payment option by which eDreams and other online retailers are able to increase their customer bases and improve their user shopping experience,‚ says Campbell.
Small online business gets paid
The partnership between mimoney and eDreams.co.za forms part of mimoney’s long term vision to equip e-businesses and entrepreneurs with the ability to receive electronic payment from customers via mimoney. The application process for mimoney merchants is far simpler and less stringent than qualifying for a credit card merchant account, empowering smaller initiatives and online businesses with the convenience and efficiency of getting paid remotely.
What sets mimoney apart is that it is not simply a wallet, like PayPal, but rather a genuine electronic currency that can be utilised to make purchases at an increasing number of online and even offline retailers.
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