New patterns emerge as online shopping evolves PayU, the emerging market payments leader, reveals that everything from the late-night shopping frenzy, to payment methods, to basket size has changed when it comes to Black Friday. Despite a significant increase of 30 percent in transaction volumes compared to last year, the total spend for the day
Innovation cycles are a key catalyst for growth and play a critical role in both entrepreneurship and economic development. The term ‘creative destruction’ was first coined in 1942 by economist Joseph Schumpeter. It refers to the dismantling of traditional business and economic models to pave the way for revolutionary technologies and innovative processes to improve
Female-led African venture capital fund Fills need for post-seed, pre-Series A funding for the African continent Aligned to President’s vision of a startup nation in South Africa Grindstone Ventures has launched a US $6.5m (R100 million) fund dedicated to seed funding predominantly South African innovative technology startups who have completed, or are part, of its
Proparco and Standard Bank signed two guarantee agreements for €28.5 million in Johannesburg during Proparco’s Deputy CEO, Djalal Khimdjee’s visit to South Africa. The guarantees are in line with the Choose Africa initiative to accelerate the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and entrepreneurship in Africa. Standard Bank will further support job creation
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services organisation has announced the launch of its fully automated branch, called the FirstBank Digital Experience Centre. It is provided to put customers at an advantage in carrying out various activities on their own without interacting with anyone. The branch is a reinvention of
Standard Bank South Africa (SBSA) and UnionPay International (UPI) jointly announced that Standard Bank point-of-sale devices have been enabled for UnionPay contactless payment. The cooperation is a strategic move from UPI that follows the surging trend of the global contactless payment industry and accelerates the development of international mobile payment services. According to a survey
Following the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB’s) decision to increase its repo rate by 0.25%, FNB will also lift its prime lending rate by 0.25%. The new rate will take effect on all prime-linked accounts from Friday 19 November 2021. FNB CEO Jacques Celliers says that “Today’s rate hike by the SARB is a sign
Hundreds of airlines now have access to the leading Cybersource global payment management platform through the International Air Transport Association’s Financial Gateway As the airline industry works to bring customers back on board, it is simultaneously challenged with protecting passengers, brand and revenue. To expedite takeoff, today Visa’s global payment and fraud management platform, Cybersource,
Andre Harmse, Product Manager of BankservAfrica’s Integrated Cash Management System (ICMS), shares some insights on the cash economy. As of September 2021, the number of bank notes and coins in circulation in South Africa amounted to R166 billion. Cash represents 2.7% of the country’s R6.1 trillion GDP, according to the South African Reserve Bank’s Quarterly
The partnership will further drive financial inclusion by allowing ImaliPay users to access financial services quicker through Cellulant’s payment rails ImaliPay, the one-stop financial platform for Africa’s gig workers, has partnered with pan-African payments company Cellulant, for its payments infrastructure and solutions in Kenya and Nigeria. The ease of making and receiving payments for freelancers
