PalmPay is changing the way that people and businesses in Africa pay for things by making banking services cheaper and more available.
Since PalmPay launched in 2019 in Nigeria and Ghana, they’ve helped more than 5,000,000 customers save money and time with digital payments. About 20% of people who use PalmPay say that it is their first bank account.
They are also getting ready to help more people quickly. They want to move into new areas and offer their competitive, high-quality, and affordable financial products and services to an additional 100 million people and 10 million businesses.
To do this, they are expanding their online and offline payments ecosystem to include the most advanced digital goods from all over the market, as well as their unique features, and to make them available to anyone with a smartphone.
The company’s ultimate goal is to become Africa’s best place to buy and sell financial services.
With its focus on payments, the business is going after Nigeria, which has the most people and is the most economically powerful country on the continent. By doing this, it is entering Africa’s most promising digital industry, but also one that has become very competitive and crowded.
How it Works
Transactions
98% of PalmPay transactions are completed successfully within 60 seconds, and the vast majority of transactions that don’t work are rolled back right away. The remaining worries are taken care of by the PalmPay Performance Guarantee.
They also give you a discount voucher if your payment takes more than 60 seconds to finish and again if it takes more than 5 minutes to process.
Since they are licensed MMOs, they work well with the Nigerian way of handling money. You can add money from any bank, MMO, or MFI in Nigeria with just a few clicks. You can also receive and send money to other users.
You can also keep track of how your transactions are going right in your browser, easily keep track of your important connections and keep track of what you’re spending.
Savings
Customers who use PalmPay instead of traditional payment methods save an average of over N10,000 per year.
Palm POS
As a PalmPay Mobile Money agent, you can get good commissions and give your clients a safe way to pay you.
They can help you figure out which point-of-sale system is best for your business if you need help. All you need to do is fill out their application form so that a salesperson can get in touch with you.
With PalmPay’s fast settlement feature, you may be able to get your money as soon as it is made.
Depending on the type of cooperation mode, the rules for fees range from about 0.4% to 0.5% per transaction. There are also different cost caps for different types of transactions.
Additionally, you can contact your sales team or send your POS terminal back to PalmPay’s main office.
The deposit will be put back on the credit card that was used to buy the item within 15 days of accepting the no-damage guarantee.
Founders
Greg Reeves
Greg is the CEO of TransNet Payments, a new player in the African Payments market that is backed by Transsion Holdings, Mediatek, and NetEase.
Transnet is bringing a full set of financial services that can be accessed from and built into the device. This makes it possible to use the device right out of the box.
Transsion Holdings makes all of the Tecno, Itel, and Infinix phones.
In 2018, African Business put three of their brands in the top 30 most admired in Africa. These brands were ranked 7, 16, and 28. With a market cap of $43 billion, NetEase is the largest gaming company in China.
Investors & Funding Rounds
Transsion, NetEase, Mediatek
PalmPay started up in Nigeria after the Chinese mobile phone company Transsion gave it $40 million in a seed round.
The investment was made by the company’s Tecno subsidiary with help from the Chinese internet company NetEase and the company that makes wireless communications technology.
As part of a strategic partnership between the three startups, the money will be used to put PalmPay’s app on 20 million phones made by Tecno, Infinix, and Itel.
With the $40 million in first capital, PalmPay plans to grow its financial services business in Ghana as well as in Nigeria. The fintech company that specializes in moving money wants to grow internationally.
Transsion owns Tecno and is the main investor in PalmPay. It has the biggest network for selling smartphones in Africa and a factory in Ethiopia. The company went public for the first time in September in Shanghai, where it raised more than $400 million. Out of that amount, the company plans to invest around $300 million in new research and development and manufacturing capacities in Africa and around the world.
With PalmPay and a $40 million funding round, which is likely the biggest seed round for an Africa-focused business, the company is now actively pursuing a larger share of the digital payment industry.
The investment, which was led by Transsion, is also a major sign of China’s move into the technology sector in Africa.
Chinese investors put a lot of money into the trucking logistics company Lori Systems, and Opera put $50 million into many internet verticals in Nigeria.
Main Competitors
Paymob: It makes it easy for businesses of all sizes in developing regions to accept digital payments, no matter if they have a storefront or only do business online.
Paylater: This is an online company whose main goal is to lend money to people.
Nuvei: When it comes to business transactions involving money, successful businesses work with Nuvei.
Related:
MoneyFellows: Story, Founders, Investors & Funding Rounds
