Mastercard, Selcom Enhances Qwikrewards Features Into New App

Mastercard and Selcom have launched the Selcom Mastercard app, an enhanced mobile payment application that enables people to centralise all their payment cards or supported mobile banking profiles on one digital platform, for ease of payment via Mastercard QR.

With this app, users can pay at any Mastercard QR enabled merchant in Tanzania, settle their bill payments from within the app while discovering exciting offers near them in an easy, safe and convenient way. The app addresses the lack of a one-stop solution for all consumer payments.

Adam Jones, Country Manager for East Africa, Mastercard said, “Mastercard has been spearheading the transition to digital payments for several years in Tanzania. By partnering with Selcom to incentivize consumers to pay for goods and services using the newly launched Selcom Mastercard app, not only are we promoting digital and financial inclusion, but we are also connecting merchants to a wider customer base to increase the volume of their sales transactions.”

He added that Mastercard’s QR payments technology is a powerful tool that offers consumers an enhanced payments experience.

Trialled in 2019, the app has now been enhanced with Qwikrewards and Discovery features which enable businesses easily offer cashback to consumers who pay through Mastercard QR. Consumers benefit from offers across different locations such as Puma, Alcove, Ahlan Restaurant, Cafe Aroma, The Backyard, and Hotpoint Appliances. They aim to start off with 1,000 merchants and expand across all industries reaching all 50,000+ merchants who accept Mastercard QR in the country.

Qwikrewards provides consumers with a single collection point for all cashback received when paying for goods and services. The rewards can then be redeemed, at the consumers’ convenience, at any Mastercard QR acceptance location in the country or to make government payments, purchase local or international airtime, and even pay for internet and TV subscription, making the app a one-stop-shop, relevant for all day-to-day spending.

For small businesses that offer these rewards in a bid to grow their customer base, this solution enables them to customize their offerings, digitally track their offers and receive electronic payments, all without having to invest in costly hardware.

The Discovery feature on the Selcom Mastercard app adds excitement to the shopping experience. Consumers can now easily identify new offers near them. SMEs and corporates can showcase all their offers on the app, and easily customize them based on their own marketing plans and efforts.  Customers, in turn, can select from a gallery of promotions and have the rewards accumulated in one place.

Sameer Hirji, Selcom’s Executive Director noted that “We have deliberately positioned Qwikrewards as an enhancer and motivator for consumers to adopt digital payments and to promote the cashless economy in Tanzania.”

The most relevant gap that the Selcom Mastercard application addresses is the ability to link a Mastercard debit or credit card, or any other scheme card to the application to pay at Mastercard QR merchants for free, even if a bank does not directly support the service through its own app. The Selcom Mastercard app is available to download in the Google Play and Apple Store.