To improve clients’ convenience and further drive up cashless payment adoption, a majority of business establishments are setting up cashless payment platforms ranging from bank cards to mobile payment platforms. With over 2 million users across the country, a majority of them holding Tap&Go cards, AC Group has often been said to bear much potential to drive uptake of cashless payment in the country. An estimated over 300,000 people use Tap&Go cards on a daily basis. The firm has more cards in the market than all the 16 Rwandan banks combined which experts say could come in handy to transition to payment of other goods and services across the country. The existence of agents across the country as well as the compatibility with mobile phones would further lead uptake of digital payments. Users say that the Tap&Go system is ideal as payments are faster since one only needs to swipe their card in comparison to the one-minute or so taken to make mobile or bank-based payments. Others say that they find the model convenient as they do not have to share or leave behind much of their personal details during payment. The New Times spoke with a number of Tap&Go users across the city to establish what else they hope to be able to pay for using their cards beyond public transport. Water vending stations: Increasingly in most (and around) bus parks and some neighbourhoods across the members of the public can get refills of clean drinking water. With the growing popularity of the vending stations including some which are automated, a number of people interviewed said that Tap&Go cards would improve users’ convenience especially of members of the public transiting through the bus park or living around the dispensing stations. “I hope that I can use my card to buy water at the stations, it would be convenient and since water is quite cheap, it wouldn’t require loading a lot of money on my card. It’s also ideal as I always have my card on me,” Hadidja Murekatete, a Tap&Go user told The New Times at a city bus park. Events entry: In 2019, Tap&Go cards were used as a payment option to access the Rwanda International Trade Fair, also known as EXPO held in Gikondo. This served as proof of the possibility of alternative use of the Tap&Go cards. With the cost of entrance fixed for all attendants, using the platform is possible as all entrance costs are similar. A number of interviewees said that they look forward to using the payment model for a wide range of events including stadiums when spectators finally resume. These they said would be convenient as it would only require having a scanner at the entrance consequently allowing entrants to simply swipe and walk in. “When we are finally allowed to watch football games in stadiums, it would be very convenient if we could use Tap&Go cards to access the stadium, most people carry their cards everywhere, improving convenience,” Michel Nsabimana, a sport’s enthusiast said. With the popularity of live matches witnessed earlier this year before the pandemic, the mode would be popular among a majority of match attendants. Parking fees: Tap&Go cards for car owners doesn’t make much sense, right? While Tap&Go cards are ideally meant for bus users, a parking attendant told The New Times that with a majority of Rwandans turning to cashless payment systems, fewer people keep the coins often used by car owners to pay for parking. With parking fees often being around Rwf 100 and most unwilling to use Mobile Money to pay, parking the attendant said that a Tap&Go card for car owners would ease the collection of payments. Students’ meals What if public and private university students would only require to swipe a card to pay for their subsidized meals? One student, Audace Nkusi said that it would be ideal for university students to pay for meals around campus and would ensure that those who may not be the best budget planners do not risk going without a meal. Nkusi’s idea is that by loading their monthly lunch expenditure on their Tap&Go cards, students are unlikely to use up the money in other ways leaving them with insufficient funds for lunch. What are other places that you wish you’d use your Tap&Go card to pay?
