SMEGA GROWS EXPONENTIALLY
BTC Mobile Financial Services (Smega), has recorded a customer subscription base of over 62 percent during the 2021/2022 financial year, Chairperson Lorato Boakgomo Ntakhwana has disclosed without stating specific numbers. The mobile money business also recorded 150 percent growth in revenue, year on year.
Smega, which has been previously suspended, was relaunched in 2019 to take advantage of the insatiable demand for mobile money in the domestic market, which grew astronomically at the height of COVID-19. “Fintech and Digital services are new business areas that continue to show strong growth albeit from a low base. Fintech is changing and will continue to change the way financial services are delivered to the customer,” wrote Ntakhwana in the latest company annual report. Smega now has a Visa Card which allows customers to transaction without limits. “More services are constantly being added on to the service to augment the card, as well as to continue to bring financial services to various citizens, including the unbanked members of our communities. Smega is able to interact with traditional banking systems, which brings about more convenience to our customers,” added Managing Director, Anthony Masunga.
BTC, which is listed on Botswana Stock Exchange, continues to grow its Fintech offering, making BTC Smega mobile money services accessible to both individuals and businesses. Through the bulk payments functionality, businesses can make various payments to their employees such as the disbursement of salaries, wages, allowances, among others. The
functionality helps businesses to do away with the need to carry large sums of cash on their premises to pay employees, as funds are paid directly to the employees’ Smega digital wallets.
“This is a great security feature as it does away with the threat of theft or cash heists that are usually inherent in handling large sums of cash. The bulk payment functionality also helps businesses optimise their operations, as there is no down time since employees do not have to halt work as they physically go to receive their wages,” noted the BTC annual report. The use of our BTC mobile money prepaid cards has grown significantly in the market. Meanwhile, the BTC board has approved a new Strategy 2022-2025 with a budget for the first year of the Strategy targeted at building on the investments made during the previous planning period. “Our focus going forward is to provide exceptional customer-focused digital solutions that will transform Botswana and selected Sub-Saharan markets,” said Ntakhwana.