It is here – I predicted it that after Transsion – the parent of Tecno, Infinix and Itel- has conquered mobile devices, in Africa, it would move into platforms. Platforms give you customers, devices produce consumers. Today, we are learning that PalmPay has moved into the big league. Yes, through Transsion, PalmPay has a $40 million war chest to battle deeper into the African fintech sector. The decade of application utility is around the corner, in Africa, and that inflection year of 2022 cannot come faster. In Nigeria, “PalmPay will offer 10% cashback on airtime purchases and bank transfer rates as low as 10 Naira ($.02)”, notes Techcrunch. In other words, as you use it, you get paid!
Africa focused payment startup PalmPay has launched in Nigeria after raising a $40 million seed-round led by Chinese mobile-phone maker Transsion.
The investment came via Transsion’s Tecno subsidiary, with participation from China’s NetEase and Taiwanese wireless comms hardware firm Mediatek — a Transsion spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.
PalmPay had piloted its mobile fintech offering in Nigeria since July, before going live today at a launch in Lagos.
The future of the publicly traded Transsion cannot be selling hardware – services provide a deeper sustainable path. Hardware reaches maturity, reducing margins, while services could be likened to the tree that produces cash as fruits. PalmPay will offer a package of mobile based financial services, including no fee payment options, bill pay, rewards programs, and discounted airtime.
Like MTN, OPay and others, PalmPay has the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mobile money license. And it has one advantage: if most Africa users depend on Transsion devices, it means the PalmPay app being pre-installed will create millions of entry points on day one.
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“On channel and access, we’re going to be pre-installed on all Tecno phones. Your’e gonna find us in the Tecno stores and outlets. So we get an immediate channel and leg up in any market we operate in,” said PalmPay CEO Greg Reeves.
The future looks exciting for consumers. But for those in the heat, it is getting hotter! Why? The Chinese are not buying local startups – they prefer to start from scratch. What does that tell me? Simply, the market is still at infancy; no one has won yet. And I do believe that, because cash remains king in Africa and eating the “ 98%” with software, is a massive generational opportunity, in places like Nigeria where the central bank started the party of all-time with digital money license galore!
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“On channel and access, we’re going to be pre-installed on all Tecno phones. Your’e gonna find us in the Tecno stores and outlets. So we get an immediate channel and leg up in any market we operate in,” said PalmPay CEO Greg Reeves. Wasn’t this the sort of thing the Europeans fought Microsoft against for years, with respect to Windows and IE? Transsion has a device advantage, it’s just like Apple and its payment platform: ApplePay, so from day one, you already have millions of users within your orbit, lowering customer acquisition cost greatly…
For a while now; the Opay group seemed to be on top of the ‘food chain’, but PalmPay now comes with its own ‘sweet deals’, in addition to dominating the smartphone market here. Both entities have financial war chest to draw on, so competition will now shift elsewhere. Add MTN and its clout to the mix, a real battle is unfolding, apparently.
This fintech dollar bazaar currently playing out in African markets, let the party remain unabated…
Yes indeed -OPay gets a good fight to spend money on.
Nice