Absa, Vodacom in deal for mobile financial services

These innovations would include a "tap and go" payment system, machine-to-machine solutions in the insurance space and consumer education delivered via mobile devices, bundled mobile and financial service offerings and free Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) banking.

According to Absa's chief executive for Retail Banking, Gavin Opperman, the deal helped Absa fulfil its objective of working strategically with mobile operators to enhance the propositions delivered to its customers.

The collaboration with Vodacom provided Absa with the infrastructure to enable cross-selling and the bundling of products to both organisations' customers.

Customers benefiting

Absa customers were already benefiting from the collaboration with the scrapping of airtime fees on its Cellphone Banking Lite service - an offering that worked on any model of handset and allows clients to request mini-statements and balances, purchase airtime, electricity and make CashSend (cardless ATM) payments.

"Absa has also rolled out the first phase of a 'tap-and-go' payment system at Coffee Connection, Vodacom World in Midrand. As part of this pilot programme, select Vodacom staff members can now simply tap their special 'tap-and-go' card against a machine instead of swiping it for payment. The project is expected to lead to developments in the Near Field Communication arena and usher in a new era of convenience for the customer. Our plan is for this system to eventually see the cellular handset become an alternative to cash and cards as payment mechanisms." said Opperman.

He added that machine-to-machine innovations that would serve as early warning mechanisms in the insurance space were also in the pipeline.

Sticking to the fundamentals

"The respective technical capabilities will create value-added benefits aimed at our customers through the provision of innovative products and services." he said. This will enable the two organisations to better assist their customers by sticking to their fundamental principles of convenience, choice, access and safety through the strengthening and diversification of their product offerings.

"By using Vodacom's infrastructure in conjunction with what Absa offers, we also envisage opportunities emerging from specific areas such as cross-selling and bundling of preferential products to our customers," said Pieter Uys, Vodacom's chief executive officer.

Uys highlighted the potential for this collaboration to help both companies build their positions on the African continent especially with their existing operations in a number of African countries.

"Vodacom's reach and high speed data networks will enable the groups to deliver new cost-effective services for their combined customers," Uys said.

Absa, with over 12 million customers, and Vodacom, with over 43 million customers, had previously entered into a "Master Airtime Agreement" (MAA), an agreement which governs the relationship between the two companies and serves to strengthen their existing association further. The MAA followed a master service agreement (MSA) signed between UK-based parent companies Vodafone and Barclays in July 2010.