Firm begins campaign to ease cost of travel

IN line with its commitment to providing cheap flights, seamless and excellent service, Travelstart, an online travel agency has unveiled the ‘Based on Logistics’ campaign.

The campaign was necessitated due to the postponement of the general elections.

Besides, the travel agency said it’s helping to ease the financial burden of travel by giving customers discounts on flight tickets.

The campaign, which commenced on February 19 and will end today, avails all local flights booked on the Travelstart platform a discount up to 25 per cent. The travel period is not solely for the upcoming election weekends, but it is open until the end of the year, 31 December, 2019.

For customers who want to voluntarily change their flights from departing or arriving on February 23 and March 9, 2019, Travelstart is waiving its admin fee. This is to further reduce the cost and the impact the postponement has had on many travel plans. Though customers may still be liable for any airline penalties and ticket price differences, Travelstart will work with all its customers to minimize these necessary fees.

Speaking about the campaign, Commercial Manager, Travelstart Nigeria, Bukky Akomolafe, said the campaign is a testament to the company’s commitment to delivering excellent customer service as well as saving its customers’ time, money and stress with its simple online booking platform.

“At Travelstart, we empathize with our customers and the financial burden that the additional travel expenses may have. We care very much about their welfare, which is why we have put together this campaign, especially at such crucial time. We are also extending our working hours on Friday to enable us treat all incoming customer requests.”

DIGITAL money transfer service Worldremit has launched low-cost online money transfers from South Africa to Nigeria, uniting Africa’s two largest economies.

With the launch, Nigerians in South Africa can now send money directly from their phones to all major Nigerian banks using the Worldremit app or website.

In a statement made available to users can send to all major Nigerian banks including Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, and more with just a few taps on their phones.

The new digital service will reduce the cost of sending money across borders. The prohibitive charges that individuals and businesses pay to transfer money within Africa are recognised as a major obstacle to the growing regional integration promoted by the continent- wide free- trade agreement signed in March 2018.

Worldremit is now one of the only digital money transfer services sending money from South Africa. By opening up this service, Worldremit will introduce some of the cheapest fees available on the market to send money to Nigeria - often under half of the average cost.

According to the World Bank, South Africa is the most expensive G20 country to send money from. The average cost of sending $ 200 from South Africa to Nigeria is nearly 16 per cent, more than double the global average.

Nigeria and South Africa represent $700 billion — one-third — of the $2.1 trillion in gross domestic product across all 55 African countries, and are home to 20 per cent of Africa’s population.

Piggybank asserts expansion plans, becomes Piggyvest

ONLINE savings and investment platform, Piggybank.ng, has announced its evolution from Piggybank.ng to Piggyvest, a much broader and holistic financial management platform.

Launched in 2016, as a savings product has over the years, introduced innovative products, from savings tools like Safelock, target and group savings, and Piggyflex, to insurance products like its newly-launched Trackit, which aids customers in becoming more effective at financial management.

Speaking on the about the decision to change the brand’s name, Co-founder and CEO, Somto Ifezue, said the evolution represents the firm’s determination to ensure that their services continuously evolve with the needs of their customers. “We are building the future of savings and investments starting in Nigeria. So, we need a name that reflects that. ”

The evolution according to him will allow the company to incorporate a dynamic range of new products into its offerings; to enhance customers’ accessibility to a variety of financial service solutions; and to ultimately deepen the value it provide to customers.

Also speaking on, CoFounder and Chief Operating Officer, Odunayo Eweniyi, said: “Our new identity is more than just a name change. We believe that it captures the essence of our direction as a business and our focus on the needs of our customers. Our new name is symbolic of this direction and it provides a glimpse into the exciting things the future has in store for us and our customers.”