Five reasons to choose Beyonic over MNO bulk payment solutions
“If I had to continue using the MNO (bulk payments platform), I probably would have quit my job.” — Rupal Patel, Finance Officer at BeadforLife and a Beyonic customer
Transitioning from cash to digital payments is increasingly a question of how, not when. In countries such as Uganda and Kenya, mobile network operations (MNOs) have successfully built robust person-to-person mobile money ecosystems, blanketing the country with cash-out agents and sensitizing the public on what mobile money is and how it can be used. There are now more than 67,000 agents across Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, and more than 40% of Kenya’s GDP is sent through mobile money.
In mobile money-saturated countries, many organizations and businesses are increasingly viewing mobile money as a tool to reduce costs and enhance staff safety. Development organizations, specifically, are facing pressure from donors to integrate e-payments into their operations in order to receive funding.
But making the shift to mobile can be overwhelming for organizations that are used to dealing only with cash. The e-payments landscape is complex and crowded, and organizations must sift through many options to find the platform that best suits their needs. Should they use the (often costly and cumbersome) bulk payment platforms offered by MNOs? Should they build their own platform internally? Or, should they partner with value-added aggregators?
Here, we look at five advantages of opting for the latter option and partnering with a mobile money value-added services (VAS) provider like Beyonic.
Advantage #1 — A sign-up process that takes minutes, not months
The thought of overhauling existing (often, cash-based) payments systems in favor of digital options can often be daunting for organizations. They may be unsure where to start, or question whether the up-front investment required to implement an e-payments system will pay off in the long-term.
Third-party payment aggregators can remove the pain from this transition, enabling potential customers to sign up for a free account online in minutes, and test out the platform to see if it meets their needs. If they decide the platform works for them, these organizations can easily upload payee information and send out their first payments within a day.
Advantage #2 — Designing a platform for the customers, not the other way around
Creating user-friendly platforms that meets the needs of specific customer segments is often not the top priority of MNOs, who are catering to a very wide customer base. In contrast, platforms such as that offered by Beyonic can be easily adapt to meet the needs of specific types of customers, from insurance providers to education NGOs. Beyonic is purposefully designed to be flexible and conform to our customers’ current financial management procedures.
On a basic level, an example of this is that a large number of organizations have more than two people that authorize cash disbursements. Most large organizations have two tiers of approvals with multiple authorizers in each tier. Existing MNO bulk payment platforms allow only two Users to login for the creation and approval of transfers. In contrast, Beyonic can be configured to match nearly any existing authorization procedure.
Additionally, Beyonic is constantly improving the platform to match customers needs. TruTrade Africa, for example, uses the Beyonic platform to send money to hundreds of farmers in Uganda. “Beyonic was willing to do upgrades to the system as we used it, and they helped to create a system that best met our requirements,” said Noah Kusaasira of TruTrade.
With a focus on flexibility and customer usability, value-added aggregators offer features that are generally unavailable on traditional MNO bulk payment platforms. These include built-in contact verification and authorization, downloadable transaction reports, and a high level of payment transparency. Other useful features include the ability to attach documents, add comments, integrate flexible approval rules, and receive notifications.
Advantage #3 — Immediate payments, to the right person
Convincing customers that their money is in safe hands is often the most important task of any payment provider. Businesses and organizations need to be able to trust that their money will quickly move from point A to point B without any losses along the way. By working closely with customers and responding quickly to any issues, aggregators like Beyonic can often minimize the potential for errors and losses.
The increasing trust placed in aggregators can perhaps best be illustrated by the fact that aggregators in Uganda move twice as much money through their systems than MTN and Airtel, according to a staff member from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Advantage #4 — A “seriously, call us” customer service attitude
Beyond trust in the technical aspects of the payment platform, customers also need to know that all issues will be handled promptly and professionally by their chosen payment provider. For Beyonic, the motto “Seriously, call us” sums up their approach to customer service. Members of the support team are available via almost any channel of communication, from Skype to WhatsApp, and can be reached at any time to answer questions and respond to issues. Every customer, no matter how small, receives at least this level of support.
Advantage #5 — Access to multiple MNO mobile money wallets
In Uganda, like other countries with high rates of mobile money usage, there are a variety of competing mobile money providers in the market. This means that potential recipients of payments might have mobile money wallets from different providers. If an organization opts to use an MNO bulk payment platform, however, they can only send payments to individuals who have a mobile money account with that specific MNO.
Payment aggregators like Beyonic remove this limitation. Organizations can send money to individuals with a variety of mobile money accounts, all from the same platform. This removes the potential expense of ensuring that all recipients have the requisite SIM cards and are signed up to a specific mobile money provider.
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Organizations and businesses in mobile money-saturated markets are increasingly faced with the challenge of figuring out how to make the shift to digital payments. Thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of various types of platforms is an important first step to this decision-making process. Organizations need to decide what payments platform best meets their needs, how it should be designed, and how it will integrate with their existing accounting and payment systems. The answers to these questions will be unique to each organization, based on their capacities and needs.
