Visa, Halotel partner in mobile payments for Tanzanians

What you need to know:

  • Halotel customers with mobile wallet may start using Visa agents to make payments and conduct cash deposits and withdrawals next year, thanks to the partnership between the two companies.

Dar es Salaam. Halotel has partnered with Visa—the global payments technology company—to enable visa on mobile payments among the Tanzanian mobile operator’s wallet holders.

That, according to a joint statement by the two firms, means, HaloPesa’s one million registered customers can make merchant payments and conduct cash deposits and withdrawals through Visa agents.

The service will be rolled out in early 2019 targeting any HaloPesa customer, including those who do not have a bank account, according to a statement released on Thursday.

“The aim is to connect more Tanzanians to the global payment system, bringing secure and convenient mobile commerce for consumers and merchants,” stated the joint statement.

“We are excited about this. Our partnership with Halotel will ensure that Tanzanians can pay using Visa on their mobiles at over 40,000 new retailers. It will also help expand financial inclusion for Tanzanian consumers who will now be able to benefit from participating in the Visa eco-system", said Visa acting general manager for East Africa, Kevin Langley.

Tanzania has 41.8 million telecom subscribers, whereby come June 2018 Halotel had 3.6 million subscribers.

The firm said it has one million mobile money accounts branded HaloPesa and 40,000 mobile money agents.

“With this partnership, we will have the power of the Visa network to deliver interoperable standards and enable our customers to pay and get paid seamlessly,” said Halotel’s deputy managing director Nguyen Van Son.

How it works

Through the partnership, HaloPesa will offer consumers the option to pay a merchant with interoperable Visa QR Codes that are being rolled out as part of Visa on mobile expansion in the market.

Visa on mobile enables consumers to access their funds directly from their bank accounts via their mobile banking app to pay merchants, send money to individuals at no transaction fee, as well as deposit, or withdraw cash at any Visa agent, according to the statement.

Enrolled merchants will receive a unique QR code with a Till Number that customers can scan using a smartphone or key enter using a feature phone respectively to make the payments. The funds will move directly from the consumer’s bank account into the merchant’s account and provides real-time notification to both parties.

Enrolled bank agents will also receive a QR code with a Till Number that consumers can scan using a smartphone or key in a USSD code from a feature phone respectively to deposit or withdraw funds into or from enabled bank accounts.