Mobile money continues to be a hotbed for Africa’s tech innovators. (Photo: perspectives.3ds.com)
Finance
An app in Nigeria is addressing the problem of how to transfer money safely and securely to people when banks are notoriously corrupt and frequently entangled in ethnic disputes. The Nigerian payment service provider Pagatech, developed by Tayo Oviosu, launched an app called Paga for Android to bolster its growing payment service in Nigeria.
Paga, which launched in 2009, has well over 2 million customers and more than 7,400 agents across Nigeria. Paga’s online presence was initially through www.mypaga.com but their mobile app now offers customers an enhanced mobile experience. As an innovative, open, secure, and interoperable mobile payments platform, Paga allows any person who has a mobile phone to transact electronically, thus turning the mobile phone into an electronic wallet.
Customers can use Paga to send cash, purchase airtime, pay bills and pay retailers. Paga supports all phones, even the most basic SMS-enabled phone, and works on all mobile networks. Customers can also transact on Paga over the internet, via the Paga mobile application which will be made available for Java-enabled devices and via USSD.
