Mukuru, which is one of the major suppliers of money transfers in Africa, has announced that it will be creating a partnership with PayFast, which is an online payments gateway in South Africa, in order to introduce a new payment service in the country.
According to a release, Mukuru enables businesses to accept cash payments for online sales. This functionality is made available to users as a payment option on Payfast.
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How the partnership will benefit South Africans
It is also mentioned that the service makes it possible for the underserved market, which is either earning cash or does not have access to digital payment instruments, such as credit cards, to engage in risk-free online shopping.
“When a consumer selects Mukuru as a payment option on the checkout page of the online store, they are sent a unique code. They can take this code to any Mukuru pay point nationwide within 36 hours to pay for their purchase. As soon as the cash payment is made, Payfast informs the merchant, and the online order is processed.”
Oliver O’Brien, Group Executive Head of Strategy and Business Development at Mukuru, claims that the service offers customers a bridge between cash and digital payment methods.
“We have customers who trust us and are familiar with using our platform, making their transition to the digital economy seamless.
“Millions of people in South Africa can now access a range of online stores that cover all categories, from entertainment and fashion, to groceries and appliances. Merchants can now tap into this sizable and underserved market to unlock more growth opportunities.
The partnership with Payfast provides consumers with a safer and more reliable option than cash on delivery that has been fraught with challenges, especially in informal communities.” he added.
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About Mukuru and Payfast
Mukuru was introduced in the middle of the 2000s, It is an Android and iOS software that simplifies money sharing.
It enables clients who are living abroad to send gift vouchers for groceries and fuel back to their families in Africa by text message. It is the top financial services platform in Africa, providing people with access to a variety of financial products and services including money transfers, card services, loans, burial cover, and more.
Later on, it expanded its services to include money remittances, and it today serves over 13 million clients in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Mukuru serves clients who like to use cash online as well as those who are engaged in the informal sector and who predominantly deal in cash by providing a variety of cash-to-digital pay-in points across urban and rural locations in South Africa. These pay-in points are spread throughout the country. Andy Jury is the Group CEO of Mukuru
Established in Cape Town In the e-commerce sector across the African continent,
Payfast is regarded as the most popular online payment platform in South Africa.
PayFast is a third-party service that streamlines the purchasing process by acting as a trusted and safe intermediary and provides rapid confirmation of payment across a variety of payment methods.PayFast is designed to assist businesses as well as their consumers, and it comes standard with several layers of sophisticated security and fraud detection. Integration with more than 80 different platforms enables users to access payment for a wide variety of purposes, including e-commerce sites, invoicing, and event ticketing.
The firms argue that the partnership between Payfast and Mukuru will bridge the digital divide by providing cash users with a secure and simple option to engage in the digital economy. This is in light of the fact that millions of people still choose to conduct business using cash.