Tom Stilwell, head of Mercantile Bank Private Bank, says that the bank is delighted to be able to reward entrepreneurs and make it easier for them to get something more out of their daily purchases. “As a bank that works closely with entrepreneurs, we had numerous discussions with our clients to understand what they wanted from a rewards programme. Two things came out strongly.
"Rewards must be easy to redeem - many clients complained that they had often struggled to use their rewards with other institutions - and the programme must also offer clients considerable choice in what they can buy with their rewards. With our new loyalty app, redemption could not be easier and we are constantly increasing our list of merchants, giving clients even more choice.”
The bank has already built a relationship of trust with its entrepreneurs. “This app is a step forward in adding value to our clients who, by definition, are enterprising and innovative,” says Stilwell. “We are delighted to have worked with a young, fast-growing, entrepreneurial technology company that is also in the same category as most of our clients.”
wiGroup’s proprietary mobile transacting platform, the wiCode platform, enables point-of-sale integrated mobile transacting, in more than 55,000 point-of-sale lanes nationally, providing services to more than 50 mobile transacting issuers. In addition, wiGroup, which was founded in 2007, develops innovative mobile transacting solutions for retailers, banks, the hospitality sector and brands and agencies that enable point-of-sale integrated mobile-based payments, loyalty, couponing, vouchering, rewards and gifting.
wiGroup founder and CEO, Bevan Ducasse, says that many businesses offer apps that are time consuming and difficult to use, as they are often clouded by what they want in the application, rather than starting with their end users in mind. "The trend of market-leading applications is to specific core functionality rather than generic 'overcrowded' applications. Mercantile have done well in shaping an application that has specific and valuable functionality for their customers, which is key to success.”
Ducasse adds that it was important for his team to understand the nature of the entrepreneurs’ priorities in developing the app. “We were fortunate in that Mercantile Bank was able to give us their insights into the needs of their particular market, which was a great foundation to base the application on.”
The app has an extensive list of wiCode-integrated merchants where entrepreneurs can earn and redeem points, including major retail chains and popular coffee shops.
According to Ducasse, merchants also find the app very beneficial. “Our platform is utilised by multiple industries, including five large retail chains, over ten hospitality chains, more than 50 FMCG brands and over ten mobile issuers in South Africa alone.”
