Image sourced from YoMZanzi
Nedbank, Mastercard and Ukheshe have partnered to launch Money Message – a new payment platform that lets small businesses receive secure in-chat payments from their customers via WhatsApp.
A first in South Africa, the solution is expected to enable merchants to send an invoice requesting payment from any customer seamlessly through WhatsApp. Their customers in turn can quickly settle payment directly from the platform.
“The need for a diverse range of contactless payment methods is more important today than we could have possibly imagined, as we seek to rebuild the economy by giving businesses the ability to transact in a safe and secure way,” says Chipo Mushwana, Executive of Emerging Payments at Nedbank.
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Feb 12, 2021
South Africans are splashing out more than ever before over Valentine’s Day – especially on memorable experiences and gifts that can be ordered online.
The latest Mastercard Love Index examines spending habits and trends around Valentine’s Day by analysing Mastercard spending data across the Valentine periods (9 to 15 February in 2011, 2019 and 2020) from over 53 countries around the world.
The amount that South Africans spend over the Valentine’s period has soared by 142% over the last decade, with sentimental shoppers purchasing almost 10-times (up 880%) the amount of gifts and experiences than they were in 2011.
Online shopping has grown steadily and is at an all-time high – with a 683% increase in the number of online transactions in the Valentine’s Day period since 2011. Many will shop online for Valentine’s Day gifts this year, while some will show their love for local, purchasing bouquets and gifts from neighbourhood businesses.
PayCentral has partnered with Mastercard to launch DigiCentral, a secure online platform that provides small business owners with a simple way of paying out incentives, rewards, gifting, corporate expenses and even salaries to their employees through a prepaid virtual card.
The virtual card replaces a physical plastic card and can be used for eCommerce and in-store purchases. To complete a purchase online, DigiCentral virtual cardholders receive a 16-digit card number, security code and expiry date, which they would use much like a physical card. It can be linked to online retail apps like Uber, Uber Eats, Checkers 60 Sixty and others.