NAIROBI, KENYA: Online payments companies 3G Direct Pay and Payoneer have signed a new partnership for making regional and global payments in a move that is likely to revise the cost of online payments downwards.
The partnership allows the two companies to provide end-to-end financial transactions for hotels, airlines and travel agents, among other players in the hospitality industry.
“We are excited about this opportunity to deliver services to our clients in Africa’s hospitality industry,” said Eran Feinstein, Managing Director of 3G Direct Pay.
“The partnership with Payoneer allows us to give consumers a payment processing platform that has sophisticated global mass payout capabilities,” he stated.
The new partnership comes hot on the heels of an announcement by global internet payments firm PayPal that it is seeking to develop new partnerships with tour operators and online merchants in Kenya.
Online and virtual payments present a lucrative opportunity for local and international companies to cash in on the growing middle-class which has seen an upsurge in spending.
This year alone, regulators have received four proposals from service providers to operate mobile virtual networks including national carrier Kenya Airways and Equity Bank.
Battle for customers
Currently, Kenya’s titans in mobile communications and financial services Safaricom and Equity Bank are locked in a battle for consumers in the wake of Equity’s foray into virtual mobile money transfer trade through its new entity, Fin Serve.
Payoneer marketing vice president Jonny Steel noted that combining the two companies’ network infrastructure and market reach would give them an upper hand in penetrating the competitive sub-Saharan market.
“There are new types of payments that create a lot of disruption from the business perspective. As the world changes, we are continuously asking ourselves what more we can do to empower global commerce,” he said.
Kenya is in the forefront of a banking revolution; a majority of Kenyans (56 per cent) make or receive payments using cell phones.
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