What Happens When Fintech Apps become super?
Super Apps in Africa
Some years ago, Africa bemoaned the neglect its app development market received. That is not the case today as the continent’s app developers are looking towards creating more than just apps. Kenya’s top telecom provider, Safaricom, introduced the M-Pesa super app in 2021. Vodacom, the top telecom in South Africa followed with VodaPay super app months later, which was created in collaboration with China’s Alipay. Additionally, Nigerian mobile platforms Gokada and Opay debuted a new super app experience earlier.
Super apps are defining the future of apps, offering services across verticals and multiple cases. The SuperApp model which originated from Asia acts as a single entry point that offers multiple services. Imagine an app that allows for e-commerce/logistics and payment/savings. That is how super SuperApps are. They basically save you the stress and time of navigating through different apps and platforms to carry out different tasks.
Because they are a great fit for the digital economy of the continent, where low-spending consumers purchase low-end phones and data at comparatively exorbitant prices, SuperApps are growing more and more popular among African nations. As a result, developers of several applications are increasingly pushing for the super app model in an effort to grow and sustain their companies.
While super applications continue to spread throughout towns and nations across the continent, they are placing a high value on balancing consumer requirements, they may persuade customers to use their products without even trying. Fintechs are now also moving away from offering just specific financial services, they are building a socially appealing gateway for financial inclusion.
About Vodapay
The VodaPay super app was released by Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone Group, for South African smartphone consumers in 2021. The app’s technology is provided by Alipay, a mobile money expert, and gives users access to digital financial services, online shopping, and lifestyle tools.
CEO of Vodacom Shameel Joosub at the time had expressed his happiness at the introduction of VodaPay to customers. The CEO noted that Vodacom had made a significant accomplishment with the app since it advanced the company’s goal of transitioning from a telecom to a tech company.
Users of the VodaPay SuperApp may safely deposit and save their money in the app’s integrated digital wallet. Users of VodaPay may then instantly and free of charge send money, pay bills, or make purchases using the app. Fast registration eliminates the paperwork and procedures usually involved in opening a standard bank account in Africa.
Vodafone’s commitment to driving financial inclusion is reflected in the firm’s decision to make the VodaPay app zero-rated for Vodacom customers. This means they are not charged for any data used when browsing or making transactions. This offer was promised to be extended to users on other mobile networks in the near future.
With the ability to purchase at their preferred stores, place food orders, mail money, and pay bills all from inside the app, VodaPay is intended to assist many aspects of a customer’s lifestyle. Users may also add pre-existing cards from any South African bank with a good reputation and use them to make purchases using the app.
About Avo
Nedbank’s Avo launched in 2020. A year later, the Avo SuperApp had over 20k merchants selling on its platform and more than 250 000 active users. The bank noted that in just one year, it achieved what other e-commerce businesses achieved in five years.
Avo, which first served as a platform for ordering groceries, meals, and services like plumbers, has expanded to include services like selling vehicles through Avo Auto, a full-service virtual vehicle mall. Since then, the app has increased beyond its 2020 figures. Over 1.5 million South African customers and 21,000 companies have been connected through the Avo SuperApp.
According to Ciko Thomas, managing executive, of retail, and business banking at Nedbank Group, the goal behind Avo was to have an all-in-one location where various companies, big and small, could provide their services to the public. Businesses using the platform gain from being able to avoid paying the fees that competing platforms often impose. Food delivery services, for example, can push costs up by an average of 30%. With Avo they can save because it offers free delivery.
Additionally, Avo also has a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace that, among other things, gives companies effective ways to obtain raw materials or stock” and promotes their growth.
Fintech Super App Fusion
SuperApps in Africa has often been spearheaded by Fintechs and large e-commerce firms. The often capture customers by offering an all-in-one payment platform, while also offering services including shopping, transportation, or delivery.
In particular, the fintech movement is encouraging the meteoric emergence of SuperApps, which is having a profound effect on South Africa’s app ecosystem. The ability to conduct transactions inside of a super app allows users to avoid the difficulties associated with using credit cards and numerous applications, which puts Africa’s culture in an ideal position to embrace SuperApps more widely. In essence, the lack of firmly established financial businesses and the low cost of data have created an atmosphere that is ideal for the super app to rule.
According to industry analysts, SuperApps will soon rule in emerging countries like South Africa due to comparable characteristics. There are indications that such applications won’t have any trouble gaining traction in South Africa. VodaPay and Avo are only the first of the many fintechs that will create SuperApps in the country.
The key to the success of fintech SuperApps is a strong emphasis on solving customer problems. It entails placing the user at the center of every choice you make, prioritizing the provision of his everyday financial and social needs in one app.