Sylvia Duruson
Kenyan ride-hailing platform Little App has rolled out Near Field Communication (NFC) payments for drivers through partnerships with Visa and Absa Bank. The contactless payment functionality allows riders to tap their Visa debit or credit cards against the driver’s Android phone to pay, using Absa’s Mobi Tap software.
With Mobi Tap, Absa turns smartphones into point-of-sale devices. Little App CEO Kamal Budhabatti said, “We’re excited to collaborate with Absa and Visa to introduce NFC payments, which will revolutionise convenience and efficiency in ride-hailing.”
He expressed confidence the integration of Visa and Absa’s expertise will significantly enhance the payment experience for Little App’s users and drivers.
To pay, riders enter the fare amount on the app, then hold their contactless Visa card near the driver’s NFC-enabled phone for a few seconds until the connection is established. The app confirms successful payment completion, providing mutual transaction verification.
Absa Kenya Director Elizabeth Wasunna-Ochwa praised the NFC solution as a market-first innovation with embedded security features. It offers taxi drivers a dependable and safe medium to receive digital payments. Little stated the NFC functionality was meticulously built to optimise and streamline payments. It is now accessible to users in all Little App’s operational cities.
Beyond rides and payments, Little App also facilitates package delivery in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Ghana, Senegal, and India. The platform’s broad suite of services has made it one of the leading super apps in Africa.
Little App offers useful financial management tools for parents seeking to instil money responsibility in their children. With parental oversight, kids can learn vital personal finance skills on the Little platform.
By engaging children in household budget talks and seeking their input, parents teach budgeting fundamentals. Little’s savings goals feature lets parents set specific objectives, encouraging children to allocate allowance cash toward future needs. Managing an allowance on Little shows children how to divide funds across spending categories.
Little App also enables parents to track their children’s expenditures. Monitoring helps reinforce responsible spending habits in kids. Tying rewards or allowance to chores builds a work ethic and a sense of earning.
Importantly, all of Little App’s financial transactions are encrypted, so parents can feel secure about their children learning money skills on the platform.
At its core, Little provides an all-in-one resource for teaching children money management, saving, and investing basics. By leveraging Little’s tools, parents can impart invaluable financial knowledge to empower the next generation with economic independence and build generational wealth.
