In this Interview on Financial Solutions for SMEs, the Managing Director of Network, Judy Waruiru, sat down with Brenda Obath on Classic 105 FM to discuss the company’s role in simplifying payments for businesses across Africa. Watch the video below and read the complete transcription to gain insights into Network’s operations, their affordable services, and their long-standing presence in Kenya, where they have been empowering businesses for the past 30 years. Below is the full transcription of the interview.
Brenda: Studio with Judy Waruiru, who is the Network MD, Good Morning.
Judy: Good morning
Brenda: How are you?
Judy: Good thanks.
Brenda: First of all, how was the weather getting here? I hope it didn’t slow down your journey.
Judy: No, actually, it’s looking nice and green outside there.
Brenda: Green.
Judy: Yeah
Brenda: You look down, not up. I like it. Now we’re going to be talking about essentially financial solutions for SMEs and other people like that. But first I mentioned she’s the MD of Network. Can you tell us what Network does and where it is and like, where it’s located within Africa, what’s the presence like?
Judy: Thank you, Brenda. At Network, we simplify payments for businesses by offering a suit of products for payment, whether it’s on mobile money or card. We are present in 50 markets and are headquartered out of Dubai. We have close to over 100,000 merchants.
Brenda: Nice, that’s great. And if we can home in from the over 50 markets down to Kenya, what are your operations and projects like in the country?
Judy: So, in Kenya, we have actually been present for the last 18 years. I usually say we just became adults. …we basically simplify payments for SMEs, enterprises and startups.
What does that look like? If you are starting a business online, we are the ones who connect you to mobile payment or card acceptance. You don’t have to struggle with that. If you are an in store shop, we give you a point of sale device so that you are able to collect mobile money or card payments. And all these devices are for free.
Brenda: Oh, yeah, for free?
Judy: Yes.
Brenda: That sounds like there’s a catch somewhere, which leads me to the next question. How affordable are your services?
Judy: It’s very affordable. We charge a very small transaction cost to the business that is accepting the payment, and provide value add services that give businesses extra benefits. We are able to integrate into any system, whether it’s in stock management or a restaurant to enable back office reconciliation. Our systems also give our customers the benefit of real time reporting.
We also deal with online businesses. If you have a website where you’re selling some artifacts, maybe to an international audience, talk to Network. We will come and set you up with a link or a QR code where your customers can come and they will pay you with either card or mobile wallets. We accept all forms of cards. We also accept different currencies, any of the hard currencies, USD, GPP, Euro,Kenya, shillings as well, of course, and we settle you to your preferred bank account, wherever you bank, or even to your mobile wallet. Yeah. So we offer a lot of flexibilities.
Brenda: In terms of how much money can move through your network, is there a cap?
Judy: Within mobile wallets, our limit is set by regulatory limits on the maximum amount that they can transfer. But when it comes to card, there are no limitations, and that’s the advantage. So, when you use your card, your debit or credit card that you get from your bank, the limit is how much you have. And as I said, the best example I like giving is our Maasai market vendor who is selling wares in the market and the customer, a tourist who has a card. How do they transact? You find that a tourist is limited to whether they have a mobile wallet or Kenya shillings to be able to make a purchase. What if this vendor had a way to collect card payment? Imagine the number of artifacts they would be able to sell. That’s what we are enabling to such retailers where you’re able to collect in dollars, and you’re able to collect card payments by simply a QR code. Would give a QR code solution to a Maasai market seller, yeah? Nice, yeah. Okay.
Enjoyed this part of the interview?
Watch the full video below on our YouTube channel to hear more from Judy Waruiru on how Network is revolutionizing payments for businesses. You can now watch the full video and read the transcription right here on our blog. Dive deeper into how Network is transforming payments for businesses in Kenya and across Africa.
