South African payment solutions provider Pay@ and local startup FinChatBot, which specialises in conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, have partnered to launch what they say will be a unique payments solution they hope to export across the continent in future.
Established in 2007, Pay@ is one of Southern Africa’s leading payment solutions providers, while FinChatBot, launched in 2016, specialises in performance-driven conversational AI solutions.
Via their partnership, the two companies are developing a “first of its kind” payment solution for the South African market that will launch in the last quarter of 2021, with plans to expand it to other territories in the future.
By combining conversational AI with the ability to process payments via a number of channels – including in-store, mobile payment processing apps, EFT and bank card payments over USSD, and WhatsApp, among other channels – the solution aims to improve customer engagement, reduce friction, and take the hassle out of payments and collections for industries such as insurers, lenders, municipalities and e-commerce operators.
“By leveraging technology, we can provide customers with an enhanced digital payments and collections solution, all in one place,” said FinChatBot director of UK market Richard Marsden.
Barry Williams, sales and marketing head at Pay@, said engagement platforms and payment solutions typically operated separately.
“But now we’re bringing the two together and providing customers with choice in the type of payments they make. It also bridges the worlds of digital and in-person payments – something which is crucial given the majority of South Africans’ propensity for cash transactions,” he said.
