Google Wallet launches in SA amid booming digital payments usage in Africa – The North Africa Post

Alphabet Inc launched its Google Wallet in South Africa on Tuesday (23 August), after rival Apple Inc introduced its Apple Pay mobile payment system in the country last year — a sign that the tech giants try to gain a foothold in the continent’s rapidly growing digital payments space.
The COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated digital transactions. People are increasingly more comfortable making contactless payments using their smart phones. The Google Wallet app stores a consumer’s credit or debit card information and allows shoppers to pay for goods by tapping their phone against a retail store’s point of sale at the checkout counter. Africa has seen an explosion in digital instant payments solutions over the last few years. Africa accounted for 70% global mobile money transactions last year.
ECDPM, a Brussels-based thinktank, has published a briefing paper that argues that not all digital instant payments solutions can be interoperable with one another and even more so across borders. Interoperability of cross border instant payment solutions is crucial to Africa’s efforts towards building the African Continental Free Trade Area. Cross-border interoperability for low-value instant payments systems, such as mobile money, is an important step towards ensuring that the AfCFTA benefits all small-scale traders. The briefing paper concludes by stating that it is important for African countries to have cross-border access to payment platforms. International partners such as the EU should help them.