Last week at the 16th annual AfricaCom top industry professionals gathered from all over Africa to discuss Mobile Money in Africa. One interesting theme to come out of the discussions was the need to move beyond the success of Mpesa. The success of the Mpesa Mobile Money System in Kenya over the last few years
Trustwave announced the acquisition of data security provider Application Security, Inc. The company’s automated database security scanning technologies strengthen Trustwave’s ability to help organizations protect high-value data, reduce security risks and achieve compliance with mandates and regulations. Application Security, Inc. pioneered the research and development of security software for relational databases and big data stores—helping
CardCash.com, the web’s largest secure secondary gift card exchange, announced that it has secured $6 million in growth financing from Guggenheim Partners, a global financial services firm. CardCash said it will use the funding to continue to enhance its popular exchange on which consumers can buy, sell, and trade the estimated $30 billion of unused
IKEA Group, the world’s leading brand in home furnishing products, has entrusted its furniture point-of-sale infrastructure as well as its software and system operations to a single partner: Wincor Nixdorf. Over the next two years, the Paderborn-based IT solutions provider will install 12,000 POS systems in nearly 300 IKEA stores in 25 countries. The recently
Another strong message to come out of the mobile money talks and presentations at Africa.com is that cash is still king in Africa. In his presentation Brian Richardson from Wizzit brought up the point that despite how much success mobile money might have had in Africa, cash is still 80% of retail. He suggests that
Ingenico worldwide provider of payment solutions, announced that its Telium 2 range is now certified with EMP (Emerging Markets Payments) requirements. Working with more than 130 banks and 30 000 retailers, EMP is the leading electronic payments processing company in the Middle East and Africa. Thanks to the certification with Ingenico payment terminals, EMP customers
One of the major themes running through the mobile money discussions at Africa.com was how mobile money creates an intersection of banking and MNO (Mobile Network Operator) services. The big question to come out of this is, ‘Can the banks and the MNOs work together or are they competitors when it comes to mobile money?’
Groupon announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Ticket Monster, a leading Korean ecommerce company owned by LivingSocial, Inc., for $260 million in cash and stock. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2014. “Ticket Monster is a perfect fit for Groupon as we continue to transition our business globally
Since its launch in May this year, Absa’s Multi-currency prepaid travel card has generated 12 000 card sales and more than R250 million in transactions. From a zero base six months ago, the service now accounts for 77% of all Absa travel card sales. In a first-to-market in South Africa, the cash passport allows South
Nedbank Group unveiled Africa’s first ever banking branch that fully offsets its energy usage through renewable energy sources. The Lansdowne Corner branch situated in Cape Town utilises an innovative hybrid power installation, effectively making it a 100% off-the-grid outlet. The grid-tied renewable energy system harnesses solar and wind energy and converts this to standard mains
