Financial guru to lead Net1’s new initative

NET1 has appointed a leading international fintech veteran to help it drive the globalisation of the technology underpinning its controversial Cash Paymaster Services business.

This is the business responsible distributing social grants in SA.

During the quarterly results presentation to analysts at the weekend, chief executive Herman Kotze said Net1 was “extremely excited” about the international initiative. for

It will be led by Carl Scheible, whom Kotze described as an industry veteran who has worked for Moneygram and PayPal in Europe, Africa and a number of other markets.

In September 2015, Scheible was appointed chief commercial officer of ENett International, a payment solutions firm.

The new Net1 business would focus exclusively on large-scale financial inclusion opportunities in emerging markets across the globe.

“A significant effort will be placed on targeting social welfare programmes in those countries, using our proven biometric UEPS/EMV technology platform,” Kotze told analysts.

There was a drive towards financial inclusion across the globe, he said, noting there were 2.5-billion people in the world who were unbanked.

The new international entity would be structured as a joint venture, with Net1 the majority shareholder and the balance held by management and funders.

“We believe this structure is necessary to be able to attract and retain the best talent from leading companies and universities, and operate removed from noise in SA,” said Kotze.

The new business, which is expected to be operational next year, has the backing of the International Finance Corporation, one of Net1’s major shareholders.

For the three months to end-September, Net1 reported revenue of $153-million, which was down 2% in dollar terms and 8% in rand terms on the comparative quarter in financial 2017.

Kotze said the results in recent quarters did not reflect the true potential “of what we are capable of delivering”. — BDLive