In further innovations to create ease and convenience for the customer and drive efforts towards cashless payments in the country, Airtel Rwanda has introduced a ‘Tap and Pay Card’ dubbed Kozaho.
The card which is powered by the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology will now offer a new wave of convenience and faster payment option for the customer and merchants.
The Kozaho card is contactless based on NFC standard and is provisioned with an Airtel Money account which is linked to the customer’s mobile phone.
The card is personalized and issued once and then used for its lifetime. Airtel customers will be able to tap and effect payments with their Kozaho cards at any POS terminal in a two-step process only.
The use of the new card will pilot with Transport Services such as Kigali Bus Services, Motorbikes and Taxis. Select supermarkets and shops across Kigali have also been on-boarded.
Commenting on the development, Airtel Rwanda Managing Director, Mr. Teddy Bhullar said this was another milestone in the ‘Pay With Airtel Money’ campaign recently launched with Pay TVs and E-Government partners including WASAC & RRA.
He said, “The Kozaho card is our strategic goal towards driving more cashless payments in Rwanda. We strongly believe merchant payments are the way to go in building strong ecosystems that support mobile financial services and give customers the convenience that comes with using the Airtel Money mobile wallet.”
Mr. Patrick Buchana, the CEO of AirClerk; a company currently dealing in cashless payments in the transport sector said, “This move to create a cashless payment system in the transport sector is top on the agenda towards improving the transport system in Rwanda and later on create an eco-system where commuters can ably enjoy the other services related to payments using the Kozaho Card.”
He added that the Kozaho card greatly supplements the already existing bus payment system and plays a key role in enabling this cashless drive as well as easing payments in various places for commuters.
Mr. Bhullar reaffirmed Airtel’s commitment on innovation in mobile financial services. He also said that the Telco was in a rollout phase to ensure that the services are available across the country over the next few months.
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