SendSpend's Digital Card and e-Wallet chosen by TravelTicket as Preferred Payment Method in Emerging Markets.

SendSpend's Payment Gateway helps monetise Apps and enables Online Stores to receive digital payments from anyone, even those without a payment card

London-based alternative payments leader, SendSpend is pleased to announce their partnership with TravelTicket App in South Africa. SendSpend's offering is specially tailored for the global unbanked and an ideal platform for South Africa's transport industry.

TravelTicket enables consumers to purchase tickets from hundreds of domestic long distance and cross border bus companies using the TravelTicket mobile App and paying electronically.

SendSpend will save hard-pressed consumers time and money by empowering them to purchase bus tickets without leaving their home or having to take time off work. SendSpend's FREE Pre-Paid Digital card and e-Wallet is easily downloaded from Google Play Store onto an Android Phone, and registration is done via the App. Customers are up and running within minutes.

This innovation radically improves bus drivers and passengers' safety, who are soft targets for thieves after their cash takings. The bus companies also benefit, as there is no need for them to print tickets any more, thus avoiding ticket counterfeiting schemes.

"This is a significant moment for emerging market companies in the transport industry", says Graham Davies, joint CEO. "SendSpend's E-Commerce Payment Gateway helps monetise Apps and enables Online Stores to receive digital payments from anyone, even those who don't have a traditional payment card. It not only opens up online products and services to the unbanked, it provides a platform for e-commerce merchants and e-tailers to receive payments from a massive market audience that previously had no method of paying them".

Unlike existing online payment platforms, SendSpend allows payments and transfers to occur instantly without the need for a credit card or bank account. The digital card is "topped up" with cash by users, at registered agents or ATMs. Wages can also be paid directly into it.

SendSpend's innovative search and price comparison AI technology enables customers to search for and locate available Cash In/Out Agents in their area and compare deposit or withdrawal fees in real-time. This creates a competitive market place for cash services that is sure to make remittances and payments more affordable and accessible to the consumer.

While the predominant form of public transport in South Africa is the minibus taxi (37.8%), buses are the second most popular form of public transport, at 5,6%, well ahead of passenger rail. This translates into at least 960 000 bus trips per day during the workweek and excludes weekend travel, long-distance and cross border trips.

The strategic combination of TravelTicket's App and SendSpend's digital card and e-wallet ensures that none of these passengers need to pay cash for a bus ticket again, whilst operators can say goodbye to the headache that comes with having to manage large amounts of cash each day!

"SendSpend is a big game-changer for the Travel Industry and comes at a time when the average day traveller really needs a new and fresh solution to not only book tickets remotely but enabling them to make risk free payments," says Ruan du Plessis GM of Travel Ticket. "We see the impact of SendSpend being a huge benefit, especially for the long-distance and cross border travel companies who always struggle with people paying for their bus tickets in cash. This not only opens up a whole new audience for the bus companies but significantly reduces their cash and pilferage risks, by enabling prospective travellers to pay SendSpend is perfect for Point-of-Sale and commuters can also use SendSpend to pay in person at Ticket Offices across South Africa.

With over 95% of households in South Africa having access to a cellphone and 90% of internet traffic conducted on a smartphone purchasing online or via an APP using SendSpend is a new way forward.

SendSpend Limited is a Fintech company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with operations in South Africa and India. SendSpend Holdings (Pty) Limited, registered in South Africa, is an authorised Financial Service Provider (FSP# 50673). SendSpend promotes financial inclusion of the unbanked through the SendSpend Payment System, a global, multi-currency, peer-to-peer payment system connecting merchants, consumers, and cash in/out services via a series of APIs, Payment Gateways and Smartphone Apps. The SendSpend App's are currently available on Android.