ZunguZ, a locally developed platform that facilitates micro-payments between users on social networks, has introduced the Z-button.
The multi-tiered platform has now signalled the beginning of its second tier of development following a proof-of-concept evaluation and conclusion of a closed beta trial in December last year. ZunguZ was initially unveiled as a first tier of the offering - a Facebook friend-to-friend money transfer platform.
The ZunguZ application facilitates money transfers between Facebook friends using the sender's existing bank account. The receiver can access the money by activating the ZunguZ application and then getting the cash from any of SA's big four banks, provided they have an account there.
However, the company says in future the service will allow recipients to collect their money at ATMs or any point-of-sale machine.
ZunguZ's joint CEOs Rob Sussman and Lance Fanaroff have now unveiled the initial component of the second tier - a customisable payment request button that users can build and instantly publish to their Facebook walls.
The company says it has ensured the functionality is simple to use, adding there is no need for any prior experience or level of skill in terms of applications, coding or technology development.
“A Facebook user, who has activated ZunguZ inside the social network, follows the instructions to create a button,” it explains in a statement.
The benefit of this button, says Sussman, is that it has the capacity to instantly share information between all linked users - both privately and publicly.
“This means the user can create a button and select the option to share details with some or all linked users. Payments can be initiated and transactions completed over a secure connection, and all monies are deposited into a user's existing bank account facilities within South African banks,” he points out.
According to Sussman, the Z-button feature also allows users to track the progress of payments, and to control and regulate what is paid by whom and when. “Although the feature is hugely attractive to social investment or social awareness initiatives, it can be used for personalised gift giving between users and Facebook friends.”
Sussman and Fanaroff believe the feature adds significant value as the first cost-free, secure, one-click social payment facility that anyone, irrespective of skill level, can use.
“It is particularly significant given the rapid growth within the Facebook payment and credit space. One recent statistic is that Facebook payments alone generate as much as $557 million within the global economy. Clearly there is a need to bring the consumer into the convergence of mobility, social networking and banking,” says Sussman.
He points out that ZunguZ does not come into direct contact with money, “it simply facilitates the payment for the users”.
The company explains that the Z-button is meant for micro-payments only, as these are amounts that a user would feel comfortable asking others to match or give.
Regarding security, ZunguZ says the platform uses Thawte certification, SSL, HTTPS and second-factor authentication.