Telkom financial service has launched a mobile point of sale app to breach the gap between banks and mobile users in South Africa. The tool will allow merchants to make and receive payments through their mobile devices, a technological solution for small, medium and micro-businesses. The Telkom Pay Mobile POS App will be available in stores for Android and Apple users.
Early this year, the company launched T-Kash, a mobile money app in Kenya and now has channelled its energy to South Africa with the vision to drive financial inclusion and build the super App in Africa. Telkom's product is designed to promote efficiency in business as merchants can transact with a broader range of customers, receive payments for services and not have to get involved with long checkouts; this will boost customer satisfaction and increase profitability. Merchants on Telkom pay will no longer have to worry about high charges as they can access financial history and transaction data virtually from anywhere at affordable rates.
Telcom operators like Safaricom, Airtel, and MTN continue to spearhead the drive for innovation and building super apps. Telkom hopes to plant its feet in a very competitive environment firmly. However, for Telkom beyond the competition, it seeks to pursue growth as reports show a decline of 2.3% yearly, amounting to about R10 billion in its trading update in 2021. Telkom hopes to transform its circumstances by exploring opportunities in the FinTech ecosystem.
South Africa in focus:
Population: 59.31 million in 2020 as compared to 58.56 million in 2019
GDP: $301.9 billion compared to $351.4 billion in 2019
GDP per capita: $5,090 in 2020 compared to $6,001 in 2019
