FNB estimates that it has 3.5 million active users in South Africa of its eWallet service. By Staff Writer
In South Africa there are 5 million people that have used eWallet since its inception with 3.5 million considered active users, meaning that they have used this service in the last six months, FNB said in a statement on Wednesday.
FNB added that eWallet has reached an impressive milestone with over R33 billion sent to users since the inception of the mobile money service and R1.2 billion sent every month to eWallets in South Africa. Of the R33 billion, R27,8 billion has been sent through the traditional consumer eWallet service.
FNB said the newer business solution, eWallet Pro, makes up the additional R5,2 billion sends. This service allows businesses to pay workers without bank accounts and is showing good growth. It has the same functionality as the eWallet consumer service, but has the addition of a prepaid Visa Card.
“The ability to send money to any South African number has undoubtedly contributed to the success of eWallet, with the convenience of the facility and the ease of use being at the essence of its ever growing popularity in South Africa as well as other African regions,” Lytania Johnson CEO of eWallet Solutions at FNB said in a statement.
In sub-Saharan Africa, FNB eWallet continues to do well with Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho sending a combined R6,6 billion.
“Interestingly, in Namibia, eWallet has seen an impressive uptake in the number of users with over 1 million eWallet users since inception, which means 50% of the adult population of Namibia now use eWallet,” said Johnson.
1 Comment
I have used the eWallet service a couple of times.
I have one issue with this service. Why must I wait 24hrs to get my money when I reset my PIN.
The majority of the funds being transferred via eWallet is emergency money, with desperate relatives/friends waiting eagerly to withdraw the funds. A lot of eWallet customers are being seriously inconvenienced when they reset their PIN and have to wait for 24hrs to get their money:
1. What if this is money to pay for hospital admission for my child?
2. What if this is bail money for my relative?
These are real life situations that highly paid product executives can not comprehend. The majority of eWallet users are lower LSM, and the product is developed by executives who use credit cards and can never understand the inconvinience of waiting 24hr.
We all know where the trick is: most people forget their PIN. So FNB keeps these funds for 24hrs and make money on the finance markets. The 24hr penalty does not work for people whose lives depend on these funds.