Mukuru Integrates With WhatsApp Making It More Convenient To Send Money

Mukuru has now integrated WhatsApp Business’s API with its system. That means its now possible to ‘create orders’ for sending money (and many other things) via WhatsApp for Mukuru account holders in South Africa. First of let me explain what is called ‘creating an order’ based on Mukuru’s dictionary.

‘Creating an order’ is when a Mukuru Account holder initiates a transaction (such as sending money) online with their app or website and on the phone through the USSD. For the sending of money to be successful, the user will then have to go to any Mukuru outlet and deposit the money in their Mukuru account and then the money will be sent automatically.

How will it work?

According to a video posted by Mukuru, an account holder’s WhatsApp number will be linked to their Mukuru account so that when they make they ‘create their orders’ on WhatsApp it will be as good as creating them on USSD. So essentially you create your order on WhatsApp (rather than on USSD) and settle the payment at a Mukuru pay-in outlet.

Any Mukuru customer in any country where Mukuru is present can interact with Mukuru via WhatsApp. The icing on the cake is the functionality that enables customers to interact with Mukuru in many languages such as French, Shona, Ndebele, Chewa etc. And “customers can easily request to chat with an agent in their home language”.

Why Mukuru integrated with WhatsApp

Since Mukuru is not an MNO and it is using USSDs for people to “create orders” it certainly is paying a fee to use the USSD platform (to the MNO). So with this move, it may be a step of trying to migrate people from the USSD platform to the free Whatsapp platform where it won’t have to share its revenue with anyone. Given that WhatsApp is quite handy and cheap to use Mukuru, account holders may migrate to WhatsApp.

It seems the use of WhatsApp in the financial services sector in Africa is on the rise, considering that not so long ago Absa introduced WhatsApp banking and also Nigerian banks have joined the bandwagon. This trend of integrating WhatsApp with banking platforms stems from the fact that WhatsApp is readily available and easily accessible by a growing number of Africans so it’s easy to get customers to use banking or financial services on the platform. By leveraging on WhatsApp, financial institutions are spared having to go through the pains of developing an app and striving to get users on board to use their financial services.

Furthermore, the secureness of WhatsApp with its end-to-end encryption affords the security that emerging customers want, which makes accessing financial services on WhatsApp much preferable than on the USSD in relation to Mukuru customers.

MukuruShonaNdebele

Mukuru is a financial services company now headquartered in the United Kingdom. The company is focused on remittances, especially enabling Africa’s diaspora to send money back home. Launched in the mid 2000s as Zimbabwe went through hyperinflation Mukuru enabled customers in the diaspora to send… Read More About Mukuru

Shona is a collective name of the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe which consists of the Manyika, Zezuru, KoreKore, Karanga and the Ndau among other ethnic groups and represents over 70% of the Zimbabwean population. The Shona people are mainly concentrated in Mashonaland, collective term… Read More About Shona

Ndebele is a language spoken by the Ndebele/Matebele people who occupy the Matabeleland province in south western Zimbabwe. It is the second popular language after Shona. Read More About Ndebele

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