African Pay-TV Giant Multichoice Is Joining The Fintech Bandwagon

A new fintech joint venture is being established by MultiChoice Group, the company that controls DStv, GOtv, and other media properties, with the goal of creating an “integrated payment platform for Africa.”

The joint venture, in which Rapyd and General Catalyst are also investors, will run under the newly founded firm and brand Moment and coincides with MultiChoice’s efforts to broaden its business, reports TechCentral.

The difficult economy and a slew of new streaming competitors that are giving consumers a substantially increased variety of viewing options are putting pressure on the group’s mainstay pay-TV business. It is hoped that the new venture, Moment, will consolidate the USD 3.5 B (ZAR 69 B) in payments that MultiChoice Group processes yearly.

“Moment offers expanded payment infrastructure for businesses across Africa to help them collect and make payments easier, quicker and more affordable in any manner that their buyers or suppliers prefer,” the group said in a statement on Monday. “Moment will also offer additional options for consumers to spend and save money more wisely. The aim is to transform the African payments landscape by making digital payments more accessible and reliable for domestic, cross-border and global payments.”

The payments business will “address the need for an accessible and dependable payment platform for many small businesses and millions of consumers in Africa,” according to MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela.

“Investing in this venture is a logical progression for us, as we already process payments every month from 22 million households across 50 countries. Moment fulfills our strategy to expand our ecosystem by investing in adjacent businesses that provide scalable services, underpinned by technology,” Mawela said.

According to MultiChoice, the longer-term goal is to lessen dependence on cash payments by providing the infrastructure for pan-African payments for the 44 million small companies operating on the continent. Moment, according to the firm, “aims to increase digital transaction accessibility for the 350 million consumers who are underbanked or not banked at all.”

Moment would eventually provide payments across more than 40 countries and hundreds of payment options in order to “collect, disburse, and manage risk”, the company added. It intends to encourage the use of PayShap, a real-time payment system from South Africa, and other similar systems. Additionally, it intends to provide local payments in more than 130 countries and virtual accounts in more than 40 different currencies for global-African trade for importers and exporters.

Along with payments, savings, and rewards for clients, there will also be payment tools, a substantial amount of inventory to offer, and financial services for micro- and small- and medium-sized businesses.

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