‘In-App Payments‘ are payments made for goods and services on mobile device applications, such as a smartphone or tablet. East-Africa has the largest mobile-money market in the world with a huge number of citizens utilizing the mobile money system. Despite this great success, businesses in this region have long failed to take advantage of the opportunity that in-app payments presents as an electronic payment option. Tanzania is one of them, however, the situation is slowly changing as more consumers now demand this type of electronic payment option.
One example of a local business that is moving towards in-app payments is XCAR Rentals. ClickPesa is currently consulting XCAR on in-app payments. XCAR, a car rental company based in Dar es Salaam and Arusha, is developing a car rental / Uber like app for iOS and Android. The app will give customers the ability to book / rent a car with or without a driver. Each car is equipped with a GPS device instead of using the GPS tracker on the mobile phone. XCAR is developing a car rental app for Tanzania and considering to work with in-app payments. Mr. Emmanuel Semboja, General Manager of XCAR sees in-app payments as a great opportunity to tap into electronic payment industry, improve customer experience and reduce the use of cash in their business.
“With in-app payments, we can automate the payment process and better serve customers. XCAR will also have the ability to keep better track of payments. In-app payments gives us also the ability to integrate loyalty and incentive programs into the application which will benefit customers. Instead of customers having to keep up with punch cards or key ring tags, all of their information is stored in the application each time they use our service. In order to utilize in-app payments, ClickPesa is currently working with XCAR to integrate a payment module into their application.