ImaliPay expands to South Africa with Stitch as payments and open banking partner

Problem: ImaliPay needed a trusted payments partner in South Africa that could provide a seamless experience for their users at affordable rates

Solution: With Stitch, ImaliPay can enable gig workers to make instant bank payments when paying back tools purchased via buy-now-pay-later, through a link shared on their WhatsApp chatbot or Mobile App – in just one click

Result: The team launched in South Africa in less than 3 months, with Stitch as their payments and open banking partner

Now live in three markets – Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa – ImaliPay is making massive strides to enable Africa’s gig workers to take more control over their financial lives. The team was able to launch in less than two months, with Stitch as their payments and open banking partner.

With Stitch, workers that benefit from ImaliPay can easily make repayments directly from their bank accounts for items purchased via buy-now-pay-later, with just one click. In the future, they’ll also be able to seamlessly contribute to savings through the same linked account.

Improving the financial health of Africa’s gig economy workers

It’s no secret that the gig economy is quickly growing across Africa. While the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the number of gig and platform workers in Africa and across the world, it also had a negative impact on their overall financial health.

According to a report from BFA Global’s Catalyst Fund, “Platform workers generally remain excluded from the formal financial ecosystem and lack access to basic financial services like credit and savings.” A survey of 3000 gig workers across five markets from venture capital firm Flourish Ventures indicated that the biggest financial concerns gig workers have, exacerbated by the pandemic, include the ability to save for the future and the ability to pay off debt.

ImaliPay is working to solve this problem by providing gig economy workers with access to tailored digital financial services through a one stop shop. Their offering includes a savings product, insurance and buy-now-pay-later marketplace, enabling affordable access to the tools workers need to perform their jobs and earn more revenue. Using ImaliPay’s innovative financial products, customers can purchase key working capital inputs like fuel, smartphones and airtime to increase the productivity around their work. As of this week, gig workers in South Africa can also access ImaliPay’s services.

“The market is ripe for us to drive more inclusive financial participation for gig workers in South Africa,” said Group Partnerships Manager at ImaliPay, Alexandria Akena.

“In South Africa alone, there are over four million gig workers, and we want to be able to serve all of them better. We will launch by partnering with a few major gig platforms, and with Stitch as our payments partner.”

Stitch enables a seamless payments experience for gig workers leveraging ImaliPay

“We’re excited to partner with Stitch and leverage their payments solution to provide a better user experience for our customers as they transact on the platform,” Akena said.

“We want the payments experience to be just like magic, and integrating with Stitch has enabled us to make this happen.”

In South Africa, the team is launching first with buy-now-pay-later services – providing access to petrol, smartphones, airtime and other tools, depending on what their workers need to perform their jobs better. Workers can access ImaliPay via a simple WhatsApp chatbot, through which they can link their bank accounts via Stitch one time, and easily make subsequent payments with one click every time after.

The impact of ImaliPay on Africa’s gig workers

So far, ImaliPay has powered over 400,000 litres of fuel, and enabled a total of 30 million trips on ride-sharing platforms in Kenya and Nigeria.

“Our customers are able to earn 3-5x more because of our service. With Stitch, our customers will conveniently pay for buy-now-pay-later products and bill payments,” Akena said. “Trust, security and consistency are key to creating the best possible customer experience. A seamless payments solution ties the experience together. Stitch’s open banking capabilities will also allow us to better understand our customers’ behaviour.”

We’re excited to welcome ImaliPay to the South African market! To learn more about how you can enable seamless, one-click payments for your users, reach out at sales@stitch.money. For more information about ImaliPay please contact hello@imalipay.com or visit imalipay.com.