Specialist solutions provider MIP, which focuses on delivering software solutions to the financial service industry, has established an exclusive partnership with local start-up Waytag. Waytag provides a unique approach to location-based services, creating distinctive location tags using GPS co-ordinates.
Designed to make location sharing easier, this solution assigns a user-generated, unique 'Waytag' to a specific geo-co-ordinate. Much like an IP address, which marks a virtual location of a computer, is linked to an easy-to-remember domain name, each unique Waytag is linked to an individual or a business, creating a free permanent address that allows other Waytag users to immediately identify a location instead of having to search out a long-winded physical address.
“The uses and possibilities of Waytags are endless,” explains Richard Firth, CEO of MIP Holdings. “Because a Waytag is a permanent address that moves with you wherever you are, it can be used by companies to improve the services they provide, or it can be used by individuals to make their lives simpler. Because each Waytag user creates it, names it, updates it, and manages it, they can choose who to share their Waytag with, ensuring that the user is always in complete control of the information associated with the application.”
While a product like Waytag may seem a bit of a departure for MIP, a company known for its software as a service offerings across the verticals of the financial services industry, its unlimited uses in business as well as a shared entrepreneurial attitude made a partnership between the two companies a good fit.
“Location information plays a role in many of our clients' businesses, and the implementation of Waytag can make the way they do business more efficient. For example, banks that have been given access to their customers' Waytags can immediately check if fraudulent ATM transactions are occurring. As a company that focuses on providing affordable solutions to the financial services market in Africa, we felt that the Waytag offering was a good addition to our portfolio,” Firth explains. And, as with all other products that are used in the sensitive financial services sector, Waytag's security is an essential selling point.
Warren Venter, Waytag's CEO, explains that the partnership with MIP will help cement Waytag's place in the technology world, and that the two companies have a shared vision for the product. “Leveraging the wealth of experience and the expertise offered by MIP in the architecture of Waytag has added significantly to the deployment of Waytag on a global basis. We needed a partner that understood our vision and had the tools to execute. MIP has delivered on all aspects,” said Venter.
Share
MIP Holdings
MIP Holdings is one of the world's leaders in the provision of 'risk-based' billing services to mainly, but not exclusively, the financial services industry. The company designs and develops software solutions that focus on the collection of contributions and payment of benefits in the healthcare, employee benefits, and life assurance, as well as in personal finance, integrated lending systems and treasury.
With a focus on meeting client-specific requirements and through extensive investment in technology, MIP 'future proofs' its solutions. Strict adherence to industry standards, as well as stringent internal control over standards and quality assurance, ensure that the systems MIP develops meet all client expectations.
Expanding into the telecoms sector through its purchase of Itemate, MIP Holdings provides telecom operations and management solutions to communications service providers worldwide. The company's specific skills in the area of mobile prepaid value chains, prepaid product life cycle management analysis, voucher management systems and mobile financial services enable it to provide an end-to-end service. Its most recent acquisition, Waytag, further enhanced the company's ability to provide a comprehensive solution to its clients through the unique Waytag offering of location-based services.
MIP Holdings was founded in 1989 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa with additional offices in Cape Town.
Editorial contacts