Infobip has implemented a WhatsApp-based chat banking solution for fintech start-up Afridig Wallets.
Based in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, Afridig is set to start operating in January 2022, bringing to market a suite of digital payment solutions for under-banked individuals and businesses.
Afridig founder and head of product development Zwelabantu Ntsubane said: “Afridig offers digital payment solutions specifically tailored for small and informal businesses within the township and rural economy. Our core focus is on enabling financial inclusion that is affordable. We understand that data is a significant expense for our target market and so we chose to deliver our solutions via popular social media channels that are typically already present on an end user’s mobile phone.”
The company has partnered with various retailers, financial institutions and micro enterprises to create multiple deposit and withdrawal channels for its customers.
Ntsubane says that the key to providing these services is the chat banking solution implemented by Infobip, which can be accessed via WhatsApp and enables users to send and receive money, purchase prepaid products, transfer funds from mobile wallets to bank accounts and to make purchases at local businesses. The chat banking solution enables payments to be made using QR codes and uses a payment gateway developed by Infobip partner Ukheshe to process transactions.
“Infobip’s end-to-end chat banking solution has saved us a huge amount of money. Considering the complexity of our solution, we were looking at various third-party integration options, but app development costs are incredibly high,” said Ntsubane. “Infobip was able to provide us with a solution at a fraction of the cost, which is very important in our case. Cost structure has a massive impact on our business model, as we are a fintech that is seeking to drive financial inclusion for customers.”
