Digital bank TymeBank and prepaid services company Kazang Pay have partnered to make cash withdrawals more accessible to consumers in townships, rural areas and other underserved areas.

TymeBank customers can use their cards to withdraw cash from spaza shops and traders that operate Kazang Pay-enabled value-added services terminals, nationwide.

This turns informal traders into one-stop shops where customers can buy prepaid electricity, airtime and data, as well as gaming vouchers, do daily shopping, send remittances, pay bills and draw cash, the companies say.

Withdrawals and card payments settled through the Kazang Pay terminal are instantly settled in a digital wallet. Merchants can pay their suppliers from wallet funds. This reduces the security risks associated with cash and helps merchants manage their operating capital more efficiently.

“Cash withdrawal is an invaluable service for the informal market because consumers in townships or rural areas can do all their day-to-day shopping and transacting at a local trader. This removes the need to pay for a taxi and queue at an [automatic teller machine] to access their wages or social grant payout.

“It also enables customers to withdraw money as needed, rather than making one large withdrawal on a monthly or weekly basis,” says Kazang business manager Malcolm Visagie.

“For merchants, offering TymeBank withdrawals is a great way to attract foot traffic and build customer loyalty. Additionally, it helps reduce cash-handling risks and costs by cycling cash through their customer base,” he says.

Kazang operates a national network of more than 90 000 VAS devices processing about three-million transactions daily. An estimated 60 000 of these are enabled to accept card payments and allow cash withdrawals through the Kazang Pay card acceptance solution for micro-merchants.

“Many of our ten-million customers rely heavily on physical cash for day-to-day transactions. By working with Kazang, we can offer them more points where they can access easy withdrawals, including at shops and traders that are conveniently located in their communities,” says TymeBank chief commercial officer Cheslyn Jacobs.

“Kazang’s ability to drive awareness and market penetration through its specialist in-field marketing team is contributing notably to our collective success,” he adds.