(Cio Mag) – In Ivory Coast, mobile money did not wait for the Covid pandemic to come to the forefront. Popular in 2019 with 17.5 million mobile telephone subscribers, or 67% of the penetration rate, this service has found its fans. But it has still not taken off for merchant payment, due to the lack of infrastructure allowing this type of service to be popularized in commerce, from the smallest retailers to major retail brands.
Overcoming this deficit is the aim of the strategic partnership between Bizao, a fintech working towards the democratization of financial services in Africa, with MédiaSoft Lafayette, an authorized Ivorian distributor of Ingenico Group. Together, they announce in a communication the equipment of more than 2,500 electronic payment terminals (TPE) by mobile money. The objective of this agreement, with no time limit, is to allow all physical businesses to accept mobile money, the number of users of which continues to grow in the country. Read » Ivory Coast: Mobile Money has found its followers.
To deploy this offer, Bizao first approached merchants who already have Ingenico terminals. There are 2,500 of them in Ivory Coast, and they will not have to pay any additional technical fees to collect mobile money and bank card payments from the same device. Software updating of the terminals will be provided by Bizao, which has partnerships with local banks and MédiaSoft Lafayette.
Economic lung of UEMOA, the Ivory Coast alone accounts for 38% of the region’s VSEs. Terminals mainly manufactured by the Ingenico group, and whose primary function is to make bank card payments possible for merchants. In addition, more than 6,559 billion FCFA (nearly 10 billion euros) passes through mobile money accounts each year in Ivory Coast.
Less talkative about the cost of this operation, the players hope to mobilize the payments ecosystem to allow merchants to capitalize on the success of mobile money with their customers. But also capture 5% of the annual transaction volume on mobile money accounts, or nearly 328 billion FCFA (around 500 million euros).
“In this period of economic and health crisis, the transition to a cashless economy is accelerating and represents both an opportunity and an emergency,” explains the founder & CEO of Bizao, Aurélien Duval-Delort, enthusiastic about the idea. of this partnership signed with Ingenico. A partnership that could extend to Senegal and Cameroon.
By integrating mobile money on Ingenico terminals, for the general director of MédiaSoft Lafayette, Bakary Kamara, it is a question of strengthening its leading position in the Ivorian market where alternative payment solutions are multiplying. This is particularly true at the UEMOA level. The number of bank card reading SMEs and the volume of transactions have increased by almost 20%. Aujourd’hui, près de 10% des opérations effectuées avec une carte bancaire sont réalisées sur un TPE. La moyenne des transactions se situe autour de 107 000 FCFA (164 euros).
Source : cio-mag.com
