Author: Staff Writer
Travelstart, SA’s Travel Booking Firm, announced on Monday in a statement that it will buy Club Travel Group for an undisclosed amount. The company said the acquisition will boost its offering by adding Club Travel’s established complementary corporate and franchise divisions, creating a formidable full-service African travel group. “We love Club Travel because like us they have a long history in discount travel,” said Travelstart’s CEO Stephan Ekbergh. “Travelstart is strong in the consumer segment and we want to bring consumerization to the corporate and government sectors, where Club Travel is an emerging star.” While Africa’s travel and tourism market…
Old Mutual Insure has opted out of insuring computer equipment used for cryptocurrency mining. The Sandton-based insurer said on Monday that this is due to the unregulated nature of the industry, which is often associated with cybercrime, and its penchant for using modified electronic infrastructure that operates on a 24/7 basis, making it highly prone to overheating and other malfunctions. The world of cryptocurrencies or digital currencies is growing rapidly as digitisation continues to disrupt the financial services industry. Mining these cryptocurrencies usually requires expensive computers, servers and other equipment. It is important for people to note many insurers do…
Ethos Artificial Intelligence (AI) has invested R200 million in recently launched digital bank TymeBank, which is owned by African Rainbow Capital (ARC). The investment by the Ethos AI Fund in TymeBank will result in the Fund being an 8% shareholder in the bank. The transaction value was agreed with Ethos management before the bank was formally launched in February 2019. Since TymeBank was launched, more than 400 000 clients have signed up for bank accounts, which should lead to a considerable increase in the enterprise value of the bank. Customer acquisition achievements are significantly ahead of targeted projections and the…
MTN Group is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and on Friday announced the launch of Africa’s ‘first’ Mobile Money (MoMo) AI service or “chatbot”. The mobile phone giant said the chatbot went live in Ivory Coast in May and will be rolled out across its MoMo footprint in the next few months. The AI mobile money “assistant” enables customers to engage with MTN’s MoMo services, including payments, on various social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and via SMS. The company also said the service will also be included over time, in MTN’s own newly released advanced instant messaging…
Former professional Rugby player Dylan Des Fountain and his entrepreneur wife, Joy, have built and developed a mobile and desktop platform that allows users to easily snap, upload and submit expense claims instantly for approval. Slipztream, an expense claim app, uses Google’s Cloud Vision Technology which allows the information from the scanned slip to populate the expense claim, the company said on Thursday. With a mobile app, the user is able to capture, create and submit expense claims on their smartphone. Snap and upload receipts with ease and submit claims instantly. No more lost receipts. No more missed claim submissions.…
Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi has been named as the chairman of the troubled JSE-listed technology group EOH. His appointment is with immediate effect. Dr Mkhwanazi will lead board deliberations on all group matters, and more immediately, the findings of the investigation commissioned by EOH into public sector contracts being undertaken by ENSafrica. Having been presented the preliminary findings, Dr. Mkhwanazi and the board will assess these, ask for such additional work as may be required and engage with relevant stakeholders where appropriate. Relevant findings and associated actions will be disclosed as soon as practically possible after the next steps have been…
Noiseless, emissions-free but very powerful: the MINI Electric will soon enrich the experience of locally emissions-free mobility with the addition of unique driving fun and the individual flair that is so typical of the British premium brand. The recent “testing programme” for the first purely electrically powered MINI was equally unconventional: on a foray to Frankfurt airport, a close-to-series prototype of the new model demonstrated just what electromobility in the style of MINI is capable of setting in motion. The MINI Cooper SE slipped straight into the role of an aircraft tug, setting off to the loading point towing a…
MTN has revamped the Made for Me contract packages. The new data-led packages will be inclusive of Double data (Anytime & Night Express), and more calls (All-networks plus MTN-to-MTN minutes) to cater fully to its customer’s evolving mobile needs. Furthermore, customers also get a once-off free 20GB Anytime data and 14GB Entertainment Pass valid for 30 days. The new packages will launch on 1 June as a promotional offer to consumers. In addition, all post-paid customers who sign up or upgrade for these incredible SIM-only deals during the month of June 2019 will get a free MTN Entertainment Pass ranging…
From 1 July, FNB customers can look forward to reduced monthly fees for Easy Pay As-You-Use (R5.75 to R4.95), Easy Account Smart Option (R65 to R59) and Gold Fusion (R155 to R109). The bank is also offering free benefits for Premier, Private Clients and Private Wealth cheque account holders, while fees are unchanged on each of the accounts. Private Client and Private Wealth customers will also get a free Global Account with one Signature Card, a Money Maximiser as well as a Local and Global Trader accounts. The monthly fee on the Premier Spousal account is reduced (R185 to R149)…
Since launching its new music gateway in [April], Vodacom’s My Muze has rapidly established itself as a leader in South Africa’s digital music scene. Providing streamed and download access to over 30 million songs, My Muze has attracted 1.3 million visitors and almost a million app installations in the few months since it went live. The easy to use platform also provides subscribers with the ability to catch up on music industry news, watch music videos on integrated apps such as Video Play or YouTube Music and livestream radio and listen to podcasts from industry leading radio stations. Designed to…