The two companies have join forces to stir micro-enterprise growth
South African startup Spazapp has partnered Mastercard to bring secure and convenient mobile payments to informal traders and convenience stores, commonly known as spaza shops.
Established in Durban in 2014, Spazapp went live in the same year with an app aimed at spaza store owners so as to create sustainable micro-businesses that are connected, save money, increase their profits and trade more efficiently and competitively.
The Mastercard partnership was formed with a view to unlocking economic growth by helping informal micro-businesses connect to formal markets and digital payment systems. Mastercard has integrated its digital global payment service Masterpass into Spazapp – a free, money-saving android application that connects a community of informal traders directly to big FMCG brands including Unilever and Tiger Brands.
Using Spazapp, traders can order a wide variety of products at competitive prices – which they would be unable to access without the collective bargaining power that the Spazapp platform offers – and use Masterpass to digitally pay for stock and accept cashless payments from their customers with their mobile phones.
“Too many informal micro-retailers are stuck, like their customers, in a cash economy that doesn’t work for them,” said Mark Elliott, division president for Mastercard Southern Africa. “By matching up Spazapp’s extensive supplier and distribution network with digital payment and acceptance solutions from Mastercard, we are able to help these shop owners build a better future and serve their customers who are themselves demanding safer, and more convenient ways to pay.”
