16 August 2012
Mxit moves real currency into its world by partnering with Standard Bank South Africa
Mxit and Standard Bank South Africa have joined forces to provide real money transactions
to Mxit's 10-million active South African users through the Mxit Money application.
From today, Mxit users will be able to send money to anyone with a cell phone and
to other Mxit users for free. They can deposit and withdraw cash as well as buy
airtime and electricity using money from their Instant Money account via Mxit Money.
Instant Money is an electronic currency from Standard Bank used predominantly for
person-to-person money remittances where one or both parties are usually unbanked.
Instant Money is also used to facilitate online payments without the need for a
credit card or bank account.
Mxit Money is a gateway for mobile payment services that enables its users to transact
using their mobile phones. Users can access Mxit Money as a contact within the Mxit
platform or by downloading the stand-alone iPhone application.
Mxit's vast community has always been able to transact on its platform using the
virtual currency Moola. This partnership allows the community to extend payments
into the physical trading environment for the first time.
Mxit CEO Alan Knott-Craig says this will open the social network up to immense retail
and trade possibilities giving South Africans a great opportunity to capitalised
on the growing trend towards mobile payments.
"This partnership allows us to offer users the ability to transact in the real world
from within their social network. Mxit Money becomes the portal to a digital marketplace
of 10 million users who, with real money, can purchase content and access applications
from our development partners," says Mr Knott-Craig.
"To top it off, Standard Bank, an African bank, is showing the world how to integrate
the old world with the new. A bank and a social network are working together to
make life easier. Our users win, our partners win and the bank wins."
The mobile payment space is fraught with technical, regulatory and user adoption
challenges. Standard Bank South Africa has succeeded in addressing these with its
Instant Money offering, which gives customers the ability to securely transfer,
withdraw and spend their money.
"In a competitive and ever-changing marketplace, it is essential for banks to provide
innovative solutions," says John Campbell, Head of Beyond Payments, Standard Bank's
innovations unit.
"By partnering with a social network and integrating into the Mxit Money platform,
we have demonstrated that Instant Money can be used both in the digital and real
world to access funds, affect payments and transfer real money between people. We
are proud to lead the digital sphere with Mxit, which continually evolves to meet
changing customer and market needs. This is another demonstration of its leadership"
The Mxit Money application was developed by Mxit and mobile development house FireID.
How to use Mxit Money
Step 1
- iPhone users: Download the Mxit Money iPhone App from theApple App Store.
- Mxit users: Add "mxitmoney" as a contact on Mxit to get the App inside Mxit.
Step 2
Load Instant Money using your cellphone number as a unique
identifier. This will automatically create an Instant Money value store with Standard
Bank, which can be accessed via Mxit Money as well as any existing Instant Money
channels. This where you can load Instant Money:
- At one of the 600 Spar stores nationwide with an Instant Money or PayZone counter (Remember to bring a photocopy for your ID the first time you load) location map
- At any of over 8 000 Standard Bank AccessPoints nationwide
- At any Standard Bank ATM. This will be available from September 2012. Loading Instant Money at an ATM for existing Standard Bank cardholders only. Anyone can cash out Instant Money at a Standard Bank ATM.
- Through Internet Banking for existing Standard Bank customers or going directly to www.instantmoney.co.za.
Step 3
Use the App to send money, withdraw money at Spar or Standard
Bank AccessPoint or ATM or to buy airtime and electricity within the Mxit Money
application.
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