Expo 2018: PSF advocates for electronic payments

By

Kelly Rwamapera

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  An exhibitor from India shows a client how to use a juice blender at a past expo. Sam Ngendahimana.

Shoppers and revelers at the forthcoming Rwanda International Trade Fair are encouraged to use electronic payments to access the exhibition premises as organisers announced they will also accept card-based payments, adding impetus to the country’s ambitions towards a cashless economy.

The expo, which starts on July 26, will be hosted at the Gikondo Expo Grounds in Kicukiro District, is expected to attract over 500 exhibitors from over 20 countries.
According to officials from the Private Sector Federation (PSF), the organisers of the annual exhibition, there will be no more tickets at the entrance as revelers will use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
NFC-enabled devices such as ordinary transport smartcards locally known as Tap and Go and the Quick Response (QR) code system powered by mobile money, will be used, according to Faustin Karasira, the Director of Operations at the Gikondo-based Federation.
Speaking during an interview with The New Times, Karasira said that the cashless system will ease transaction, accuracy and prevent long queues, especially at the entrance.
“We’re are employing more payment options in cashless transactions including smart cards, visa or master cards because we found that it is totally possible in the country and can be effective,” he said.
He added that several banks and IT companies have approached them to have their products integrated into the system at Expo 2018.
“Banks, telecom companies and AC-Group (providers of Tap and Go) are with us. If you have your transport smart card you can tap and continue. The same with a bank or mobile money NFC on your phone” he explained.
“There is no reason we should keep people stranded outside the gates in the process of verifying who has a ticket, what ticket is authentic or not. Today, Rwandans have various ways they can pay without using tickets,” he said.
Rwanda’s goal is to have the country cashless by 2024 and since the country is running in a private sector driven economy, the private sector should be leading in the process, according to Karasira.
“We have advised exhibitors to have options of cashless transactions as well such that they don’t inconvenience any client,” he said
The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) and the private sector have been engaged in sensitising masses on digital transactions.
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