Lender Standard Bank has launched a digital platform, Unayo, with which the financial services group hopes to disrupt the mobile money status quo in Africa.
The bank, said in a statement, that it had introduced a digital platform that combined the simplicity of mobile money with the sophistication of a bank account, aiming to connect Africa’s informal market to financial services in an easily accessible manner. Unayo transactions were free or attracted nominal charges.
Unayo, which means ‘You have it’ in some African languages, is already operational in Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho and eSwatini, with broader country deployments to follow, the bank said.
Standard Bank said it estimated that it would facilitate up to 90 percent of Africa’s payments through Unayo. In the first quarter of 2021, Unayo had already processed more than 60 000 customer-initiated transactions.
“Anyone with a cellphone number, agnostic of the mobile network operator, and handset technology, can receive value through the use of the Unayo solution and become part of the financial world,” said Wally Fisher, the head of Unayo of Standard Bank.
“It is primarily supported by USSD (US dollars), which extends its reach to users without smartphone access and where they are most comfortable and active: on their mobile devices. Customers with smart mobile devices can also use the solution by downloading the app from the Google Play, the iOS App Store or Hauwei Gallery and access more enhanced features of the banking system.”
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