Mobile wallets revolutionise African retail

Losing your money and wasting time standing in queues to pay could soon be a thing of the past.

Mobile Money Africa reports that the UAE Banks Federation (UBF) plans to finalise its mobile wallet plans in the next few months.

According to Emirates247, the process would include near-field communication chips embedded in smart phones and tablets, and using a PIN-activated app to pay.

© Tyler Olson – 123RF.com

However, eager consumers and business players alike in Africa don't have to wait for this to be localised for our market, as NFC World reports that Tencent launched WeChat mobile wallet in South Africa just a few weeks ago and we already have reports on Nedbank's digital payment solution as well as the PayU ecommerce wallet.

In fact, VentureBeat confirms that the BlackBerry BBM mobile wallet is already active across in Nigeria and set to spearhead the mobile money movement across the continent.

Payments of the future, here we come - just don't lose your phone...