CRDB mobile payments in the pipeline

Dar es Salaam. CRDB Bank and Visa have joined forces to bring a new mobile-based payment system to Tanzania as the two companies foster their efforts in promoting cashless transactions in the country.

The CRDB managing director, Dr Charles Kimei, said at the weekend that all was set for its m-Visa payment system to go live.

“This is one of the initiatives that we are undertaking to ensure that Tanzanians are able to make transactions without the use of hard cash,” Dr Kimei said at the weekend.

He was speaking during an event to award the first batch of its customers who emerged winners in its ongoing campaign codenamed: “Furahia Kandanda murua nchini Urusi - #TwenzetuRussia”.

Through the campaign, which is conducted through the use of CRDB’s debt cards, lucky clients win fully-paid trips to watch the Fifa World Cup finals in Russia which start later this month.

Some more clients won television sets, complete with DSTV decoders that have been loaded with two-months of free packages.

The use of electronic payment systems, said Dr Kimei, is convenient to customers. “It is also cost-effective and secure in that you eliminate the risk of being attached by bandits,” he said.

The m-Visa payment system essentially enables peer-to-peer transactions between merchants and customers. It is based primarily on QR codes.

When making a purchase with mVisa, a consumer uses a smartphone to scan a QR code, which triggers a transfer from the consumer’s bank account to the merchant. It also works with feature phones, letting consumers enter numerical codes instead of scanning QR codes.

Once the service is operational CRDB customers can make easy payments to the merchants by simply scanning QR code image. The general manager for Visa in East Africa, Mr Sunny Walia, said the goal was to drive growth and accelerate electronic payments in Tanzania.

“Visa believes Africa holds the future for the global economy and Tanzania in particular is our market in East Africa…there is a lot to do for Visa and CRDB in this area,” Mr Walia said.

Source: The Citizen

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