Ideas

Last updated: 2024-04-14

I have just begun this page and will improve in time. I’m hoping it leads to conversations and collaborations.

Marketplace and Instant Free Money Transfer

I used to live in China and for three years experienced the absolute magic that is WeChat. One of the most magical aspects is the way money transfer or payments work. You can send money to any of your contacts as easily as you could them an image. On their side they have to accept the transfer for it to be completed. This can happen at any time of day any day of the year all for free. If you want to pay a business you scan their QR Code and authorise payment. Instant.

This not possible in South Africa. EFT money transfers take time. Not just the transfer itself but also the action of adding details. Many numbers are involved with many errors likely. You have no idea if the money you sent has been successfully recieved and you have no idea beforehand if you’ve entered the correct banking details. There is a lot of trust and takes place and a lot of errors occur.

The problem with copying WeChat is essentially WhatsApp. South Africans have their app. People will not easily move to new a messaging app. Not impossible but it would have to offer something special.

What South Africa doesn’t necessarily have, at least not in a market dominant form, is a marketplace app. Especically one where trust is enforced. People are regularly scammed online and in person so there is inherent distrust. The incetive to download a new application would be powerful and the added service benefit of instant money transfer would be massively beneficial.

I think these two gaps present a possible opportunity. A marketplace where all goods first and second hand are sold. And the accounts that exist within having the ability to transfer between each other. Of course the ideal way for peer to peer payment would be in a messaging app. The next best thing is the ability to send using a smartphone keyboard. Confirmations can come through push notifications and only be received by verified accounts.

The verification itself is potentially tricky and here I think the answer is ID cards. Associating a trust score with particular person or persona that is linked to an ID would make for effective transfer protocol. If multiple connections to a node find that node untrustworthy then further evaluation can occur.

South African Digital Services

Simply South Africans need to carry around too many cards. Driver’s licences and ID cards in particular could and should be one card. They should be a digital card. In the event of interacting with law enforcement it should be a simple matter of sharing an identity number and relevant information should appear.

I would take this a step further and link this personal identification to health and education records. A single point of clear validation that doesn’t require the user to carry anything.