Remote Island St Helena Begins First Steps Towards Going Cashless
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Jamestown, the Capital of St Helena - Photo courtesy Saint Helena Island Info
St Helena, a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, has begun its journey as a cashless society with iPayu, iFinancial's P2B mobile phone payments solution.
The system recently went live on the Atlantic Ocean island after a period of extensive testing with selected merchants and end users.
Developed in conjunction with the Bank of St Helena and the St Helena government, it is the first step of a programme to introduce electronic payments on the island.
iPayu which has now been adopted by almost one third of the adult population enables cardholders to be able to easily shop at many of the islands retailers without the need to carry cash.
The merchant scans the customer's card using an iPod and providing the customer has sufficient funds settlement with the merchant is instantaneous without the delays normally associated with the more established card products.
iPayu also offers all of the features associated with traditional debit cards such as purchase, refund and cash back.
Digitisation Of Payments
The roll out of iPayu to the local population is the first part of a complete digitisation programme which will eventually enable tourists, visiting the island using the newly constructed St Helena airport, to be able to use their smart phone as the method of payment without the need to acquire the local currency, the St Helena pound.
The tourist programme is currently expected to become operational from early 2020. P2P payments are planned for a future date after that.
According to iFinancial Director Matthew Day, "iPayu is a perfect solution for small islands such as St Helena. Additionally, the foreign-exchange capability that is being built into the tourist card project will enable a customer from one island to be able to buy goods on another island provided that both merchants are part of the iPayu network."
Things to do in St Helena
If you're visiting St Helena you must check out it capital Jamestown, of course.
Outside the capital you can follow in the footsteps of one of the well-known residents of the island, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled to the island from 1815 until he died in 1821.
Other places of interest include Plantation House, the residence of the island’s governor, the Cenotaph, a war memorial located at the seafront in Jamestown, Castle Gardens, featuring plants and flowers including some of the island’s endemic plants.
The Archives, Jacob’s Ladder, St James Church, The Museum of St Helena, The Run, Heart-Shaped Waterfall, St Helena Distillery, The Castell Collection, St Paul’s Cathedral and Cemetery, Maskelyne’s Observatory, Diana’s Peak National Park, The Central Peaks, Deadwood Plain, Millennium Forest, Boer Cemetary, Knollcombes, High Knoll Fort, Halley’s Observatory, Sandy Bay Beach and SHAPE Centre are some of the other places definitely worth checking out.
St Helena, a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean, has begun its journey as a cashless society with iPayu, iFinancial's P2B mobile phone payments solution.
The system recently went live on the Atlantic Ocean island after a period of extensive testing with selected merchants and end users.
Developed in conjunction with the Bank of St Helena and the St Helena government, it is the first step of a programme to introduce electronic payments on the island.
iPayu which has now been adopted by almost one third of the adult population enables cardholders to be able to easily shop at many of the islands retailers without the need to carry cash.
The merchant scans the customer's card using an iPod and providing the customer has sufficient funds settlement with the merchant is instantaneous without the delays normally associated with the more established card products.
iPayu also offers all of the features associated with traditional debit cards such as purchase, refund and cash back.
Digitisation Of Payments
The roll out of iPayu to the local population is the first part of a complete digitisation programme which will eventually enable tourists, visiting the island using the newly constructed St Helena airport, to be able to use their smart phone as the method of payment without the need to acquire the local currency, the St Helena pound.
The tourist programme is currently expected to become operational from early 2020. P2P payments are planned for a future date after that.
According to iFinancial Director Matthew Day, "iPayu is a perfect solution for small islands such as St Helena. Additionally, the foreign-exchange capability that is being built into the tourist card project will enable a customer from one island to be able to buy goods on another island provided that both merchants are part of the iPayu network."
Things to do in St Helena
If you're visiting St Helena you must check out it capital Jamestown, of course.
Outside the capital you can follow in the footsteps of one of the well-known residents of the island, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled to the island from 1815 until he died in 1821.
Other places of interest include Plantation House, the residence of the island’s governor, the Cenotaph, a war memorial located at the seafront in Jamestown, Castle Gardens, featuring plants and flowers including some of the island’s endemic plants.
The Archives, Jacob’s Ladder, St James Church, The Museum of St Helena, The Run, Heart-Shaped Waterfall, St Helena Distillery, The Castell Collection, St Paul’s Cathedral and Cemetery, Maskelyne’s Observatory, Diana’s Peak National Park, The Central Peaks, Deadwood Plain, Millennium Forest, Boer Cemetary, Knollcombes, High Knoll Fort, Halley’s Observatory, Sandy Bay Beach and SHAPE Centre are some of the other places definitely worth checking out.
