A Nigeria-based mobility giant, GIG Mobility (GIGM) has in a deft move launched an e-wallet and bill payment features on it app the African startup looking to divert to to others aside road mobility.
GIGM said in a statement that the new features will allow users use their “fund their e-wallet and pay bills in a matter of seconds,”, with the service available only in Nigeria at the moment. The statement added that the over 600,000 users registered on the platform will be able to make payments for airtime, electricity bills, cable TV, and internet data on the platform.
According to GIGM, Other African countries will have the service available in the coming years.
Ghana for example was part of GIGM’s expansion two years ago and it is expected that the roll-out in the country and other African countries will come soon.
“Mobility is more versatile than it is generally perceived to be,” Jude Odum, GIGM’s Chief Operating Officer told TechCabal, explaining the rationale behind the company’s move. “It is the ability to be moved or move freely and easily. The freedom associated with mobility is the experience we are making available to customers.”
COO Odum said the new service was in the testing stage for four months and that period, the company processed “thousands of transactions valued at millions of naira”.
GIGM is poised to effectively compete in a space already saturated with many fintech apps with the launch of the e-wallet and payment features, but Odum is optimistic of the company chances of success in this new endeavor, riding on its reputation as a leading mobility brand, while being hopeful of its app user base hitting one million by the first half of next year.
“Credibility is a very critical factor for making buying decisions. Customers would rather choose to deal with reliable brands over popular ones,” Odum said. “We may not be popular in the fintech space just yet [but] we are optimistic that our user base will grow rapidly in the coming months.”
GIGM’s new bills payment and e-wallet interface
Odum further told TechCabal that the company’s transition from a traditional transport and logistics company to a technology-first business model started as far back as 2019 with an official name change, noting that the tech unit is the second-largest, after its core operations.
“We have a robust tech team that has gleaned experiences from fintech and other sectors critical to the successful development and management of our products,” he said. “We have the capacity to play in this [tech] space.”
GIGM will hope to have its app become a renowned one-stop shop in the long-term that would leverage on its tech ability to cater for the varying needs of its teeming customers. The company hopes to build a super-app that would eliminate the need to use multiple apps to perform daily tasks. It is in cognizance if this that payments and e-wallet are the first of many non-core mobility features that the company intends to offer.
“The COVID-19 pandemic gave insights to the unimaginable capabilities of technology and its application,” Kenneth Nwanganga, GIGM’s Chief Technology Officer said in the statement. “As all aspects of life become digitized, Nigerians now have more reasons and opportunities to connect with the GIGM brand, beyond transportation”.
Odum when quizzed on other immediate non-mobility plans of the company, averred that GIGM will continue to explore new fields so as to satisfy its users
“Today it’s bills payment, tomorrow it could be a crowdfunding-based investment platform or a crypto wallet,” he said.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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