PayU expands African business with Ghana entry

Payment solutions provider PayU has expanded its presence in Africa with the launch of its operations in Ghana.

The move allows PayU merchants to expand into Ghana through a single integration through the PayU Hub. They will be able to offer their customers the ability to make payments through pay by card and local mobile money payment methods, including MTN MoMo, Vodafone Cash, and Tigo Pesa.

Commenting on the development, PayU South Africa CEO Karen Nadasen said: “At PayU, we pride ourselves on our global reach and local expertise. We are always looking for ways to improve our services and ensure that our merchants have the tools to expand into new markets.

“We are also dedicated to enabling alternative methods of payment, catering to the preferences and needs of consumers in each market.”

PayU is also updating its product through its partnership with buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm Payflex in South Africa.

The partnership comes at a time when BNPL products are gaining traction across Africa. It will enable African consumers to pay for their purchases in four equal and interest-free instalments.

Payflex is said to be the latest addition to PayU’s existing credit offerings such as Mobicred, Lulalend and RCS.

In addition, PayU is set to bolster capabilities through Pay by USSD and Scan to Pay in Nigeria.

USSD allows users to access mobile banking without a smartphone or data/internet connection. They will be able to transfer funds, check account balances, and generate bank statements, among other things, through a *99# code.

It is said to be one of the popular methods of transferring money amongst the digitally savvy and underbanked population in the country. According to PayU, this solution is part of its strategy to leverage technology to promote financial inclusion even in unbanked sectors of society.

Scan to Pay, another popular payment method in Nigeria, allows merchants to display a QR code which supports Visa and MasterPass via local QR codes. Customers to scan a QR code with their banking apps and pay directly from their bank accounts.

PayU said that these solutions will help both local and global SMBs to scale up their consumer reach and build customer loyalty through preferred payment methods.

PayU payments division global CEO Mario Shiliashki said: “Our recent product updates and partnerships in Africa reflect our aim is to serve the needs of our merchants, particularly during these times of economic uncertainty, to help build their businesses, drive growth and further delight online shoppers.

“We pride ourselves in being able to introduce new product offerings that enable both our partners and the consumers they serve to move closer towards full financial inclusion.”

SOURCE: AGENCIES