Primedia and Standard Bank have rolled out a virtual mobile wallet aimed at the South African youth market, code-named Mowaly.
The companies hail the mobile application as being a revolution in the way money is accessed and spent in SA.
Mowaly is a cellphone application which can be accessed via a Web browser or sits on the phone as an application. Mowaly transacts with MiMoney; a virtual money initiative powered by Standard Bank.
According to the bank, MiMoney can be used like real cash to purchase goods and services from physical kiosks or online shops.
Changing market
Kuben Pillay, CEO of Primedia, said during the announcement at the Primedia offices in Sandown, that the roll-out follows the creation of Primedia Business Solutions.
“The demands of a market under pressure and the necessity to constantly offer our clients and our customers something unique, yet within a tight budget, enabled us to start Primedia Business Solutions earlier this year. Mowaly is the first venture for Primedia Business Solutions and it gives us the opportunity to use our entire media structure to penetrate an ever-changing market.”
In order to register for the Mowaly mobile application, users can SMS 'mowaly' to 31130. A registration message is sent to the recipient's cellphone, followed by a request to the user to enter details and choose a four-digit security PIN.
According to the companies, Mowaly is free without any bank fees or upfront registration costs. The only costs involved, according to Primedia, occur when users transfer MiMoney to other users, at a cost of 35 cents.
Reaching SA
Herman Singh, CEO of Beyond Payments and the brains behind Mowaly, said even the unbanked can use Mowaly. “The application is bank and channel agnostic and it's been supported by the Reserve Bank.”
Singh pointed to similar mobile payment solutions such as Pocit, Swap and PayPal, adding that while mobile payment solutions have seen a lot of growth in Kenya, SA still lags behind. He said it is hoped that Mowaly will capture the local market. “Our competitors use SMS to transfer money which can end up being expensive. We are not using SMS but rather data.
“We would be open to partnerships with some of the other mobile payment providers in the future. One of our partners is Mxit and we like the model they use and we hope to do a lot with them in the future. We are going to be evolving our technology and listening to our customers.”
Standard Bank customers can buy MiMoney from AutoPay or by using Standard Bank Internet banking. MiMoney is a preloaded beneficiary on the Standard Bank company directory index. Mowaly users from other banks need to set up MiMoney as a beneficiary.
Self-service terminals are situated at Ster-Kinekor theatres or users can load MiMoney at any of the cashiers. They can purchase movie tickets, top up on airtime, pay for music, ringtones, skins and downloads from ExactMusic or Exactmobile and shop online withKalahari.net and Mr Delivery. Bonus moola can be obtained from Mxit or a charitable donation can be made to The Trust.
Peter Wharton-Hood, deputy chief executive of Standard Bank SA, says the technology shows great promise and provides a convenient solution that consumers have access to. In addition, Mowaly aims to replace the physical wallet to reduce theft.
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