Absa Bank Uganda has today unveiled the Absa Mobi Tap functionality, which allows Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to use their smartphones as Point-of-Sale machines to allow customers to make payments using any contactless-enabled ATM card.
The functionality will enable small businesses to accept card-based payments from customers using a smartphone.
Speaking at the launch held at the National Theatre, Michael Segwaya, Absa Bank Uganda’s Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, said with this development, they are presenting an option for small businesses to have a clear, digital record of their transactions which will go a long way toward helping them better manage their finances and demonstrate their viability to potential funders.
While speaking at the Absa Post Budget Forum recently, Ramadhan Ggoobi; the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, said that one of the reasons behind the low uptake of the UGX200 billion Small Business Recovery Fund; a partnership between the government and commercial banks to offer affordable credit to MSMEs — was the fact that a majority of MSMEs are informal and lack proper financial records to demonstrate their viability for credit.
In a region where mobile money transactions have registered exponential growth over the years, the Mobi Tap functionality presents an opportunity for the bank to expand access to affordable and convenient financial services and increase the percentage of small businesses that are banked in line with Bank of Uganda and government’s financial inclusion strategy.
Sam Kiyaga, Absa Bank Uganda’s Head of Cards the feature is looking to tap into the widespread availability and use of smart devices in the country. “Essentially, we are saying you can open a business account with your smartphone, and with Mobi Tap, you can receive card-based payments that go straight to your account by having a customer simply tap their contactless-enabled card on your device’s screen,” he further explained.
Absa Mobi Tap application is available for download on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. To use this functionality, the merchant must have a smartphone with NFC functionality. Kiyaga however noted that merchants with smartphones that don’t support NFC can get an Absa Mobi Tap device at an affordable price.
