Visa Country Manager for Southern and East Africa, Jabu Basopo says for instance most customers have their ATM cards with Visa but still use them only to withdraw money rather than buying goods and services/FILE
Visa Country Manager for Southern and East Africa, Jabu Basopo says for instance most customers have their ATM cards with Visa but still use them only to withdraw money rather than buying goods and services.
Basopo says there is need to create awareness on the importance of using cashless payments which not only creates convenience to customers but also ensures safety by avoiding to carry cash.
“Those receiving proper banking services are about 15million people; not including the mobile services. And out of that 15 million customers, from Visa card perspective, we are looking at about 10 million Visa cards. However, usage is always the challenge for the 10 million cards and the main one we have identified is the knowledge gap,” Basopo told Capital FM Business.
He however says the firm has come up with strategies to fill the gap and ensure that more customers use their Visa cards to pay for goods and services apart from accessing other banking services.
“We trying to educate both merchants and the card holders so that the usage moves from ATMs only to point of sales,” he says.
READ: 94pc of transactions in Kenya still made in cash
The firm plans to use partnerships with institutions like banks to help in educate their customers on the importance of cashless payments instead of first withdrawing cash to the buy goods and services.
“As you are aware, cards are issued by banks and not necessarily us as Visa. And from our perspective, it is to make sure that we enable the banks to have that capability to communicate the right message to their customers,” he says.
Apart from education, the company plans to leverage on the growing e-commerce sector with main focus being on assuring security for the consumers.
This year, Visa partnered with Total Kenya, a move that allows motorists to pay for fuel with their Visa debit and credit cards at Total’s more than 120 service stations across Kenya. This is in addition to other service stations that also accept Visa cards.
“For Total, it’s all about improving the customer convenience, making sure we can accept all payment options, especially non- cash payments for safety and security,” Total Kenya Managing Director Ada Eze said on Monday while announcing a promotion that will see customers rewarded for buying fuel using Visa cards, this festive season.
