Over the past half a decade or so, the preponderance of banks has been somewhat dented by the growth of Fintech firms and the development of payment apps that have made life a lot easier for millions of people. The rise of the smartphone and cheaper data has obviously been a major factor in this case. One of the more successful payment apps to have emerged over the past two years has been Virgin Money Spot that belongs to Virgin Money South Africa. The payment peer to peer payment app was launched back in February last year, and since then it has grown in stature, and popularity at an impressive pace.
The app allows users to send money quickly to family and friends, while also allowing them to make payments for purchases they make at most stores. The most impressive aspect of Virgin Money Spot is the fact that the company does not charge any transaction fees, and hence, it has now garnered as many as 480,000 users. Now that the company has managed to command such a user base, Virgin Money SA is now eyeing expansion into new markets, and some of the markets it is looking at are in South Asia and in the SADC (Southern African Development Community).
The Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Money SA Andre Hugo spoke about the company’s plans with regards to expansion. He said that the company has the ambition to grow into a globally used payments app, and with that in mind pilot projects are being conducted in several countries in Asia and Africa. Some of the countries include Botswana, Bangladesh, and India, among others. Hugo said,
From a growth perspective, the app has definitely taken off, and we’ve had a lot of interest from foreign nationals who would like to make cross border payments. So we are focusing on expansion into the developing markets in the next six weeks.
If it can get even a toehold in the payments app markets in Bangladesh or India; the company’s user base could figure could go through the roof.
