MASTER CARD GROUP, BLUE LABEL TELECOMS IN RARE SMALL BUSINESS COMBINATION
MasterCard
and Blue Label Telecoms extend electronic payments to small businesses
MasterCard and Blue Label
Telecoms Limited (Blue Label) today announced a partnership that will see 22,000
small traders and rural shops in South Africa equipped with Point of Sale (POS)
devices, enabling them to accept card payments for the first time.
Blue
Label currently provides thousands of POS terminals in South Africa, which are
used predominantly to sell prepaid vouchers such as airtime and electricity and
are identified by the BLU Approved branding. Servicing millions of customers in
rural areas and under-served settlements, these BLU Approved traders have
historically operated on a cash-only basis.
“Over
and above the estimated 100.000 spaza shops spread
across South Africa, there are tens of thousands of small- and medium-sized
retailers and service providers. Through our partnership with MasterCard, we will
introduce many of these businesses to the safety, security, and convenience of
electronic payments, enabling financial inclusion in communities where
consumers have largely been unable to use formal payment products,” says Mark
Levy, Joint CEO, Blue Label.
“While the number of South Africans with access to formal banking
products has increased significantly in the last year, the number of card
acceptance locations – especially in rural and peri-urban areas – has not grown
in tandem,” says Philip Panaino, Division
President, MasterCard, South Africa.
Blue Label
will introduce innovative solutions to increase the number of MasterCard card acceptance
locations in South African townships and informal settlements, with the
intention of rolling out more than 15,000 new EMV-certified, contactless-ready
POS terminals. These will allow traders to accept Chip and PIN and contactless payment cards for goods
and services and to sell Blue Label’s prepaid vouchers using a single
device.
Blue Label also plans to upgrade
some 7,000 of its existing terminals
used in smaller spaza stores using MasterCard Mobile software. The MasterCard Mobile payment platform will enable
MasterCard cardholders to use their PIN-based debit, cheque or credit card issued
by Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and the South African Social Security Agency
(SASSA) and their mobile phone to pay for their purchases in-store at select BLU
Approved merchants.
“This is the first time MasterCard Mobile is made
available to consumers in the physical retail environment. This innovation is a
cost-effective payment mechanism that doesn’t require customers to open another
bank account,” explains Panaino.
Both
of these payment solutions will assist merchants to reduce the amount of cash
they currently handle, which can be unsafe and costly to process, increase sales,
and improve cashflow. Merchants will also be able to offer cash-back and cash
withdrawals to their customers, and provide them with the flexibility to pay
the way they want to.
Cashless shopping provides many benefits to consumers, who will no
longer have their shopping habits determined by whether or not they have cash
in their wallets. They will also not be burdened by concerns related to safely
carrying cash.
“These new solutions will enable our merchants to
respond directly to their customers’ increasing and frequent requests to use
payment cards at POS terminals to pay for their goods,” says Levy.
“Our
collaboration with Blue Label is another step by MasterCard towards realising
our vision of a world beyond cash by bringing new and innovative electronic
payment solutions to a generation of customers who are mostly banked, but are
currently underserved. Through the introduction of these solutions that respond
directly to the needs of merchants, MasterCard and Blue Label aim to increase
the level of penetration of electronic payments in South Africa, and help
stimulate economic growth,” concludes Panaino.
About
MasterCard
MasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global
payments industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments processing
network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments
and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products
and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling,
running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more
efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews and @MasterCardMEA, join the discussion on the Cashless
Conversations Blog and subscribe for the latest news.
About Blue Label Telecoms
Listed
on the JSE: BLU. Blue Label’s core business is the virtual distribution of
secure electronic tokens of value, predominantly prepaid airtime and
electricity, and transactional services across its global footprint of touch
points. The Group’s stated strategy is to extend its global footprint of touch
points, both organically and acquisitively, to fulfil the significant demand
for the delivery of multiple prepaid products and services through a single
distributor, across various delivery mechanisms and via numerous merchants or
vendors. See: www.bluelabeltelecoms.co.za.
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