Vodacom Is Set To Offer Short Term Loans To Small Businesses
Vodacom Is Set To Offer Short Term Loans To Small Businesses. Vodacom Financial Services says it will offer short-term cash loans to small, medium and micro enterprises as part of an initiative to drive financial inclusion. VodaLend Business Cash Advance will provide finance to smaller unregistered businesses in need of quick access to short-term cash advances, the group said in a statement. It will offer finance of between R3,000 and R350,000 to customers using VodaPay point of sale (POS) devices.
Vodacom Financial and Digital Services, chief officer Mariam Cassim, told Business Tech that Business Cash Advance will further underpin the financial security of partner SMMEs. “It often happens that a small business has intra-month cash flow challenges. While the business is liquid over the long-term, occasionally it finds itself unable to meet short-term cash requirements. This is where our Business Cash Advance product comes into play.”
“Repayments are specifically designed to assist partner SMMEs by being linked to the amount of money the company earns every day. When the company is not trading, no repayments are required,” Cassim added.
To qualify, users of VodaPay’s POS devices need to have been trading for four months or more, have a monthly turn-over of at least R3,000 (collected through the merchant’s wallet, regardless of the acceptance mechanism) as well as doing 10 payment transactions per month on the defined payment rails. No company registration or VAT numbers are required, Vodacom said. Businesses seeking finance must apply via Vodacom’s SMME portal and from there, merchants can view the financing options on offer. Once the finance is approved, they can take it up whenever it is needed.
VodaLend is in the business of empowering SME’s through simple and easy financing, a process that is critical for the economic development of South Africa and the creation of jobs. Vodacom Group Limited (operating as Vodacom) is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include networks in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and Lesotho, and provides business services to customers in over 32 African countries, including Nigeria, Zambia, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon.
