SA mobile instant messaging and social networking company MXit has signed an agreement with UCS Group subsidiary wiWallet to give its users a new payment platform.

Herman Heunis, founder and CEO of MXit, says its 10m active users will have access to the new payment offering in the second quarter of the year.

wiWallet is a payment application and platform that connects to several retail services that UCS has rolled out across the country, including point-of-sale devices.

The service integrates several retail stores and restaurants, including the popular Mugg & Bean, where customers using wiWallet can pay for services.

MXit already has a micropayment solution called Mxit Moola. However, it doesn’t allow for larger transactions, which wiWallet will do.

“Our plan is not to replace our existing Moola payment platform as it is geared to handle millions of micropayments daily. Rather, it’s to complement it with the wiWallet mobile payment gateway and voucher system to enable our users to purchase more costly items such as airtime, electricity, music and games, as well as make in-store purchases in the hospitality and consumer goods industries,” he says.

Heunis says he hopes to keep costs as low as possible for users and make voucher and payment transfers as simple as possible. — Staff reporter, TechCentral