Absa sees growth in consumer-to-consumer transactions

ABSA SAYS IT has seen strong growth in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions – exceeding pre-covid-19 volumes – since the start of the pandemic last year.

Omar Baig, the head of transactional banking at Absa retail and business bank, said the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by the heightened hygiene and health requirements, had fast-tracked the number of customers adopting and embracing digital transactions.

“Comparing 2021 with 2019, growth in C2C transaction volumes has increased by approximately 50 percent,” said Baig. The transaction types underpinning this growth include Cashsend and immediate interbank payments (IIP).

IIP transactions have almost doubled since 2019, said Baig.

With Cashsend, recipients don’t need a bank account and can access the money immediately at any Absa ATM. Cash can be sent using cellphone banking, Absa online banking, the Absa banking app or at an Absa ATM, said Baig.

Absa said most of its C2C transactions were digital in nature and therefore well suited to the remote banking conditions imposed by the pandemic.

Baig said the growth in C2C transactions was twofold: the number of transactions per customer had increased, and the number of customers performing these transactions had increased.

Consumer-to-business transactions had grown by 20 percent since 2019. These types of transactions included point-of-sale purchases, debit orders, bill payments, and purchases of prepaid services and value-added services.

Baig said newer types of digital transactions have grown much faster than the more conventional transaction types.

“For instance, from the merchants that Absa banks or processes, we noted a year-on-year 200 percent increase in e-commerce transactions in 2020, and also witnessed a 100 percent increase in contactless payments last year.”

Baig said Covid-19 and the associated regulations had accelerated digital adoption. As a result, guarding against online fraud was a top priority. Absa had launched a digital fraud warranty for customers who used its banking app, signalling Absa’s confidence in the security of its app.

In August, Absa resumed dividend payments on the back of a surge in earnings and a declining provision for bad debts in the first half of this year.

Headline earnings a share increased to 1 019.7 cents in the first half from 173.6c at the same time last year. An interim dividend of 310c a share was declared.