In keeping with the concept of Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation, at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda, Patrick Ngabonziza the Chairman and Founder of MobiCash announced a new approach to financial inclusion in Africa.
MobiCash and Boloro are launching their mobile payments ecosystem in the townships of South Africa with Big Save Group, one of the largest wholesalers operating within South African townships and servicing tens of thousands of small scale shops. The MobiCash cashless platform brings ease of access for banking services and electronic payments to the South African population at large.
MobiCash’s partnership with Boloro, a fast growing mobile payments network brand, allows small scale retail businesses to offer secure, consumer friendly, handset agnostic, merchant initiated payments using MobiCash multi-factor biometric authentication together with Boloro’s secure pin authentication that uses Network Initiated USSD messaging. This project is a first of its kind in South Africa.
“We are proud to collaborate with our partners to bring a holistic ecosystem that not only has the potential to boost small business but also has the potential to impact entire communities as we have seen in our home country Rwanda,” said Ngabonziza.
Big Save is rolling out MobiCash and Boloro across its thousands of spaza community members, accelerating financial inclusion and financial interoperability to formerly disenfranchised businesses and communities.
“Our challenge has always been cash replacement in a cost-effective way, and I am happy to see that Boloro South Africa with MobiCash have been able to devise a financial model and present an ecosystem network that we will be rolling out across our entire spaza member community,” said Johnny Jardim, Financial Director of the Big Save Group. “I believe this will positively impact not only the small business owner and their family but also the community that they serve.”
Boloro’s retail acceptance application of MobiCash’s digital money is the first step in the strategy to boost financial inclusion. Other acceptance applications such as conveniently paying for taxi fares and secure online payments will boost the payments ecosystem even faster. First roll-outs are expected this quarter with aggressive plans to ramp-up reach and impact over the next several months as more stakeholders join the ecosystem to offer financial services for the population at large.
“Delivering financial dignity to every human being is a personal goal,” said Ann Camarillo, Co-founder, President and CEO of Boloro Global. “I believe, with our partners we can democratise financial access for dis-enfranchised communities, offer secure payments and resolve the pain-points associated with carrying cash.”
MobiCash, headquartered in Hong Kong, is a cashless financial platform committed to bringing innovation, convenience and easy access to banking and payment services to everyone. This includes those not served by financial institutions regardless of their financial situation. MobiCash has made effort in the financial digital space through offering its mobile banking platform in 13 African countries including Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, DRC, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. MobiCash solution uses multi-factor authentication mechanisms such as fingerprint, Near Field Communication Cards and Voice biometric technology prior to authorising any funds transfer.
Boloro is a next-generation mobile payments network offering consumers the ability to securely pay for goods and services using any kind of mobile phone and any source of funds. Boloro South Africa is headquartered in Centurion, Gauteng and is extending the reach of consumer friendly mobile payments services in larger cities, townships and rural communities and onto the continent of Africa. Boloro operates in South Asia, Middle East and Africa and is soon launching in Latin America, Caribbean and East Asia.
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