Africa is leading the way in mobile money, and it will change banking as we know it By Mark Dankworth, President International at Ukheshe Technologies Mobile transacting is fast becoming the golden egg of financial services – and nowhere more so than in Africa. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications’ (GSMA) 2021 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, the number of registered mobile money accounts grew by 12.7% globally in 2021 to 1.21 billion accounts

Leading fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with Chipper, one of Africa’s most valuable startups, to enhance and accelerate the rollout out of Chipper’s digital payment offerings. These include free and unlimited P2P payments across South Africa, value-added services such as airtime and data and the ability to legally buy, sell or transfer cryptocurrency. The partnership will also allow for more efficient transactions across Africa

Getting a start-up business off the ground is not easy. You need to hustle hard to find the capital, attract customers and feel your way around what might be a new industry to you. With all the hard work put into establishing your business, efforts to network among peers and gain visibility may fall by the wayside. Participating in a start-up competition can give your company the boost it needs to ‘get a foot in the door’. Your company doesn’t even need to win for it to be a

Leading fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with global next-generation card solutions and digital security company, dzcard. The partnership will enhance dzcard’s customisable solutions for various digital ecosystems and locations. The partnership will leverage Ukheshe’s Eclipse API platform and its market leading digital payments solutions, allowing both companies to deliver digital strategies within their respective markets. Dono

Even with a high banked population and a multitude of electronic payment options available, the average South African still use cash for daily purchases and payments with an estimated 78-80% of transactions being in cash. Anton van der Merwe, the recently-appointed COO of Ukheshe Technologies, a fintech enablement partner that works with financial institutions to grow in the rapidly-expanding digital space, says that for these reasons alone, the opportunities for digital paym

The rapid growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies caught regulators by surprise. Since then, regulators have formed stronger positions, and even in some cases, legislation on how to regulate cryptocurrencies within established markets. Speculation abounds and currencies like bitcoin have been used as a diversification strategy to avoid relying on fiat currencies. There is likely to be a lot of evolution as cryptos become accepted as a payment mechanism, but this depends on bl

QR codes are facilitating mobile payments for more users around the globe than ever before. The reason? They’re fast, safe, efficient, and most importantly, are available to the vast majority of consumers thanks to QR code functionality built into most smartphones.  As a result, QR code payments have become the norm in Southeast Asia, particularly in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In China, QR-enabled mobile payments have largely displaced cash as

Ukheshe started with a humble proposition: bring electronic payments to the unbanked. As Ukheshe grew, it saw the broader issue: it’s not just that many people are unbanked; many financial institutions don’t have the digital means to engage with more modern audiences. When it comes to using QR codes, USSD payments, mobile apps, web interfaces and such, most banks find it too complicated. They have to coordinate the services of multiple providers and vendors, all while navigat

1 min read. Eclipse is built and operated by Ukheshe based on hundreds of man-years of experience in the financial services, telecoms and payments arena. The goal of the platform is to provide a set of powerful APIs covering everything from customer and organisation management to digital wallets, payment gateways, card issuing, card acceptance, bank integration, authentication, KYC, QR code acceptance/payments and numerous other capabilities required by most fintech propositi

2 min read. Ukheshe, Mastercard, Nedbank and Telkom collaborate to grow access to the digital economy with a virtual product that enables secure e-commerce payments on the phone Telkom has launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments. This move is expected to empower millions of South Africans – even those without a bank account – to access the digital economy and transact online. Launched in 20

1 min read. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, announces its first cohort of 2021, selecting 16 tech startups from 11 countries and seven sectors out of 150 applicants to join its vibrant community. The number of successful applications reflects an 11 per cent success rate that led to Hub71 selecting its first startups from India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mauritius and South Africa, in addition to its first SpaceTech startup, following the

2 min read. Leading South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies will expand its footprint into the Asia-Pacific region as it introduces innovative digital-first payment solutions via key partnerships in what is emerging as a lucrative growth market for the B2B payment technology specialist. The move comes as Ukheshe continues to build on its solid reputation as a trusted enablement partner, having established relationships with financial service pl

1 min read. The gig economy – characterized by the prevalence of flexible independent contractors, as opposed to permanent jobs – is growing at a rapid pace worldwide. According to Mastercard’s white paper on The Gig Economy in East Africa, this global economy is currently sized at $193 billion and increasing at a projected annual rate of 17.4%. By the end of 2023, it is forecast to be worth $455 billion. Technology, with its rapid advancements in digital offerings allowing p

2 min read. Leading South African digital-first fintech enabler, Ukheshe Technologies has announced the appointment of Anton Coertzen as President of Strategic Partnerships. Coertzen will be responsible for growing the business through key partnerships which complement the company’s business development and product innovation strategy. The appointment comes as Ukheshe continues to entrench its position as a formidable payment technology specialist within the B2B sector. Follo

1 min read. A recent Accenture report for North America noted that “incumbents must embrace collaboration and understand that, when it comes to the question of whether fintechs are friends or foes in retail payments – they are both.” In an ever-changing digital payments landscape, fintechs are able to provide solutions that enable payments to happen in a dynamic way that is both effective and convenient for the end customer. If an organisation, like a bank or telco, perceives

2 min read. In a region still dominated by cash and mobile money options, like M-Pesa, new collaborations between fintechs are looking to capture the price-sensitive market with innovative, open-loop digital payment solutions in East Africa. According to Mark Dankworth, President International, Ukheshe Technologies, the region is poised for a surge in digital banking growth, with the likes of MCQR and virtual cards likely to make the biggest impact. This follows the Kenyan re

1 min read. Nedbank, in collaboration with Mastercard and Ukheshe, has launched its Money Message service – a payment platform that lets small and micro-businesses receive secure in-chat payments from their customers via WhatsApp. The bank said that the service is a first in South Africa, and will allow merchants to send an invoice requesting a payment from any customer through WhatsApp. Customers in turn can then settle a payment directly from the platform. How it works Nedb

1 min read. A good variety of payment solutions are required for businesses to remain competitive and increase their market share in an environment where customers demand more options and greater flexibility. When solutions are created to connect organisations to customers, it is vital those customers feel in complete control of their money. To achieve this, a reliable and trustworthy enablement partner is an important foundation. Ukheshe Technologies creates payment solution

2 min read. Digital FinTech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies, together with Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, have developed South Africa’s very first WhatsApp payment gateway for use by Telkom, one of the country’s largest mobile operators. In addition to being South Africa’s first digital wallet platform, the solution is also the first W

2 min read. In April 2020, Ukheshe Technologies was selected to join Mastercard Start Path, an exclusive startup engagement program for later-stage scaling startups. In the 11 months that followed, we pivoted to a B2B model that focused on the enablement of Mastercard’s digital-first strategy. Our journey continued with the acquisition of Oltio – which developed the digital payments platform that supports Mastercard’s QR code service, Masterpass, in South Africa. while also c