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A free app available for any smartphone, SnapScan works almost like a pocket ATM linked to the user’s debit or credit card account. Instead of handing over a card, customers scan a unique SnapScan logo posted at the cash register with their camera-enabled phone. They enter the amount, type in a pin code (or use touch ID) and a few seconds later the vendor’s phone chimes with a confirmation sent by SMS. It’s quick, painless, and entirely safe, says Ehlers. SnapScan is backed by Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s biggest banks, and uses cutting-edge fraud protection technology. More to the point, he notes, it means that vendors never have access to actual credit card details. “That means no one is noting down your number so he can go shopping later,” says Ehlers.

It’s been so long since 30-year-old Cape Town entrepreneur Kobus Ehlers last used his wallet that he’s not even sure where it is. “My car maybe?” he says as he reflexively scans the cheerfully decorated offices of his startup, SnapScan. When it’s pointed out that leaving a wallet in a car in a city infamous for break-ins and carjackings may not be a good idea, he shrugs. He probably doesn’t even have the equivalent of five dollars in it, he says. “I never use cash. Credit cards are over. There are much better ways to pay for things.”As the co-founder of one of South Africa’s most successful electronic payments apps, Ehlers is of course expected to use his own product. But the real reason he isn’t worried about his wallet is because Cape Town is a city seduced by the idea of cashless and cardless transactions, in no small part because of his company’s success. “You can literally wake up in the morning, buy a cup of coffee, go to your dentist, have lunch, pay your bills, take a taxi, go out for dinner, and donate to your favorite cause without using cash or a card,” says Ehlers. “And in none of that is there any risk of your card details getting stolen, or you getting mugged for your cash.”

It’s been so long since 30-year-old Cape Town entrepreneur Kobus Ehlers last used his wallet that he’s not even sure where it is. “My car maybe?” he says as he reflexively scans the cheerfully decorated offices of his startup, SnapScan. When it’s pointed out that leaving a wallet in a car in a city infamous for break-ins and carjackings may not be a good idea, he shrugs. He probably doesn’t even have the equivalent of five dollars in it, he says. “I never use cash. Credit cards are over. There are much better ways to pay for things.”As the co-founder of one of South Africa’s most successful electronic payments apps, Ehlers is of course expected to use his own product. But the real reason he isn’t worried about his wallet is because Cape Town is a city seduced by the idea of cashless and cardless transactions, in no small part because of his company’s success. “You can literally wake up in the morning, buy a cup of coffee, go to your dentist, have lunch, pay your bills, take a taxi, go out for dinner, and donate to your favorite cause without using cash or a card,” says Ehlers. “And in none of that is there any risk of your card details getting stolen, or you getting mugged for your cash.”

Fintech technology number one: The growing number of RegTech solutionsRegulatory technology is benefiting from recent groundbreaking fintech software innovations, creating automated solutions to manage regulation monitoring, compliance, and reporting. Keeping track of new restrictions in a single database is a comfortable way of adopting a financial institution to legal requirements.

Sopra Banking Software launches its Marketplace and consolidates its open FinTech ecosystem strategy

A niche market is a segment of a larger market that has its own demands and preferences. Companies focus on niche markets to better cater to a specific consumer than competitors who target a broad audience. Catering to the unique demands that mainstream providers aren't addressing, businesses pursue niche markets to build loyalty and revenue with a largely-overlooked audience. For example, rather than offering a general cleaning service, an entrepreneur might pursue a niche by offering floor polishing services exclusively. Another business in the same city might occupy a separate niche, specializing in solely biodegradable cleaning products. 

The rise of Fintech challenges established financial centres and incumbent financial institutions to rethink their strategies to remain obligatory passage points in the age of digitizing finance. To appreciate these changes, it is important to maintain theoretical interchange between developments in financial geography and economic geography, its parent discipline

Users wanting to join a circle on MoneyFellows need to complete basic identity verification if the payout is low. If the payout is higher, the users will need to provide more documents such as income verification and assets owned to the company, which will provide a credit score.

Today, MoneyFellows has racked up more than 500,000 users, of which 200,000 are active. Active users refer to those who have completed their accreditation by providing all of the documents required and have joined money circles. Mr Wadi estimates that a “few hundred million Egyptian pounds” have rotated through the platform.

Hellomarket will be the platform used for local transactions, enabling buyers to order, deliver and pay for goods through electronic banking services. Belcash has signed an agreement with DHL Express, a Germany company, for logistics services.

For buyers abroad, Belcash introduced Helloshop, a platform that allows domestic products to be ordered through the firm’s portal and the payment to be processed through Mastercard Payment Gateway Services.

“This will make foreign currency flow through the proper channels to local banks,” said Zewdu Assefa, deputy CEO of Belcash Ethiopia. “The seller receives the Birr equivalent of the amount earned in foreign currency.”

FarmDrive generates real-time credit reports for small farmers, allowing them to access loans from financial institutions and agricultural input providers via mobile phone. 

FarmDrive collects expense and revenue data from farmers via SMS and combines it with satellite imaging, remote sensing technology and alternative data points (e.g., soil analysis, weather forecasts) to create detailed yield estimates and assess credit risk.

As it grows abroad, Paga faces greater competition in Nigeria. For the last decade, South Africa and Kenya — with the success of Safaricom’s  M-Pesa product — have been Africa’s standouts in digital payments.But over the last several years, Nigeria has become a magnet for VC and fintech startups. This trend reached a high-point in 2019 when Chinese investors put $220 million into Opera owned OPay and Transsion backed PalmPay — two fledgling startups with plans to scale in Nigeria and broader Africa.

With its Apposit acquisition and continued expansion, PayPal may become more than a model for Paga.Founder Tayo Oviosu sees big fintech players, such as PayPal and Alipay, as future competitors with Paga’s plans to move into more emerging markets.

Send payments back home in an easy and secure way. Taking care of your loved ones back home does not need to be complicated. EthioPay makes it easy to send money without having to worry whether the money will reach your loved ones. Our secure platform uses bank-grade encryption meaning when you send money, your loved ones are guaranteed to receive it. You also never have to worry about your payment methods being compromised. Use our one-time payment system or set an ongoing schedule. We know that sending money home depends on multiple factors. Sometimes you will want to send a one-time amount, other times you will want recurrent payments. Ethiopay caters for both instances by offering you flexible payment options that you can adjust to your needs. This helps you ensure that you never miss a payment when it's needed. Avoid the headaches of keeping track of payments. You want to keep track of payments you make for your personal records. This can be a challenge when using other platforms. The Ethiopay User Account Dashboard offers a unified and detailed view of all the transactions you have made on the platform. Each entry shows the date and time stamp, amount, recipient and transaction status of every payment made. Pay education & utility bills back home with Ethiopay Paying utility and school fees is an important way of empowering your loved ones back home. Whether you are in North America or Europe, Ethiopay offers an easy and reliable way to do this. In addition, you can opt to set up scheduled payments so the payments are made at the beginning of each school term or any other time frame your choose.

It was recently announced that global giant Huawei is cooperating with TPAY MOBILE to make it easier and more convenient for developers in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region to monetise their apps on Huawei Mobile Services (HMS).

Leading digital merchant acquirer based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), TPAY MOBILE, enables payment acceptance from 54 mobile payment providers (DCB and wallets), which are connected to over 580 million consumers across 24 countries through a single integration. Its shareholders include Helio

An alternative to bank card-based transactions, direct carrier and direct wallet billing offered by TPAY MOBILE allows users to make purchases by charging payments to their mobile phone carrier bills or pre-paid airtime balance, as well as wallet stored value. Such cashless payments have become even more popular with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic as consumers increase their digital spending while facing restrictions on leaving their homes.

Jawwy TV app, a result of the partnership between Intigral, Telecom Egypt (WE), and TPAY Mobile launched in Egypt. This mobile application is expected to provide a new digital entertainment platform for viewers. Jawwy TV can be accessed exclusively by WE subscribers from the subscription date after having a 30-day free trial. 

MoneyFellows is a collaborative Group Lending and Savings Platform. It is a trusted and more convenient way of finding and managing Money Circles online, by digitizing the traditional, informal offline ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) Model, allowing users to meet their financial and saving needs.

Nigeria’s leading digital financial services company, Carbon in an effort to improve the experience of its customers, has launched Carbon Express – A keyboard extension that allows customers to access Carbon services from within whatever app they are using.

AgroTrade makes managing pre-harvest and post harvest activities a breeze. It is effortless monitoring farmers activities right from planting till when commodities get to the warehouses of off-takers.

Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with Chinese smartphone maker Huawei to enable the international transfer of money across Huawei's mobile services in Africa, the companies said on Tuesday. Mobile money services that allow customers to transfer funds using their phones have proved hugely popular in parts of Africa, particularly where people have less access to traditional bank accounts.

Mobile money services that allow customers to transfer funds using their phones have proved hugely popular in parts of Africa, particularly where people have less access to traditional bank accounts.

Mobile phones, which have been adopted faster than any other technology in human history, are the visible expressions of a technology-oriented consumer (Jack and Suri, 2010). Although this image is mainly associated with the iPhone in Asian, European, or North American contexts, the spread of mobile phone technology has been even faster and successful in Africa.