Guardian ( Trinidad and Tobago )
29 October 2023 ( Page 6 )
Endcash customers grow by 100%
By Peter Christopher
Earlier this month, Digicel became the latest
company to be provisionally registered for an
initial six-month period by the Central Bank to
issue e-money in Trinidad and Tobago, through
its subsidiary MyCash.
PayWise Ltd, TSTT (Paypr) and PESH Money
(PESH) were all granted full registration by the
Central Bank as e-money issuers, effective
September 1, 2023.
But the oldest kid on the e-money block has seen
a significant surge in usage over the past year.
Republic Bank launched its digital wallet app,
Endcash in March 2021. Initial buy-in was slow,
but the bank confirmed to Business Guardian
that usage of the service has doubled over the
past year.
“We have seen a significant uptake in terms of
both the number of new customers, meaning
people registering for the service, the Endcash
wallet. In terms of usage we’ve also seen a
significant uptick in terms of the number of
merchants that we now have on board who are
willing to accept Endcash as a payment channel,”
said Damian Cooper, marketing manager for
personal segments at Republic Bank.
“I would say in terms of some specifics, we have
actually experienced a 100 per cent growth in
terms of new registrations from fiscal 2022 to
fiscal 2023.
So our fiscal ends in September, so from 2023
September over 2022 September, we have seen
actually 100 per cent growth in terms of the
number of customers that we now have,” Cooper
confirmed.
In terms of numbers, Cooper said currently there
were about 33,000 users of the Endcash service.
Businesses too, have shown increased interest
and acceptance of the Endcash service.
“We also had significant growth in terms of the
number of merchants who now accept Endcash.
Again 2023 over 2022 year end fiscal, we actually
had like 184 per cent increase in the number of
merchants who accept Endcash year on year.
So, we have seen that growth,” said Cooper who
explained just under 2,000 businesses had opted
to use Endcash as a payment option.
This rise, he explained, was done through some
strategic partnerships with businesses and in
particular food vendors.
“So, for example, 139 Woodbrook Yard, some of
the vendors on Ariapita Avenue—a lot of street
vendors because a lot of them only accept cash.
But we have a lot of people who don’t like to pay
with cash. So it’s a nice additional channel for
them without having to go through the process of
necessarily opening an account to accept
transactions or to accept payment.
So that has worked out well for those smaller
businesses,” said Cooper, who explained that
while smaller businesses have flocked to the
service, some larger franchises have come on
board as well.
“We also have some large businesses that take it.
So for example, we had a partnership with the
Restaurants Holdings Ltd, the owners of Little
Caesars and Popeyes and Burger King.
So, we had a promotion of it (there) so you have
those types of merchants that are also accepting
Endcash as well. It has been a mix in terms of the
size of the business, but we’re seeing more of the
smaller entities, the smaller businesses, the
street food vendors, going for the payment
channel,” said Cooper.
“All in all, it is trending in the right direction in
terms of new customers and usage. But, of
course, we want it to continue its upward trend.
And we will be promoting Endcash as a viable
payment channel in this fiscal year as well.
Trying to increase the number of new customers
as well as the number of transactions done by
these customers,” said Cooper.
He explained that in many cases, the smaller
businesses were using the service to have a
cashless option, particularly amid concerns about
crime and walking about with cash.
The service, he explained, was also appealing to
them as an alternative to the LINX card service as
currently signing up for the service is free and
less cumbersome than opening a business bank
account.
He, however, explained that most small
businesses were utilising the personal option,
which currently has most fees waived for sign up
and operation of the wallet.
“We are in what we call the growth stage of the
product or the introductory stage of our product.
And we realise that to get adoption of the
product, we need to have some concessions.
So in terms of our fees, our fees have been waived
by and large, and customers can transact without
fees attached.
“So, in terms of Endcash as a payment channel,
right now is the best time to sign up as there’s no
there is no better and more affordable payment
channel,” said Cooper.
Currently the only fees applied are a $3.50 fee to
add funds to the Endcash wallet and a $10 fee for
Endcash to bank account transfer.
“There are two ways it can be done. So if you
want to register as a business, then you go
through the process of opening a business
account with the bank. But what we have is some
smaller merchants almost operating it as an
individual, whereby they can actually accept
payments.
So they don’t necessarily need to go through the
process of opening a new account with the bank.
That is the preferred option but we have with
some businesses,” he said.
However, Cooper explained that the increase was
also helped by some targeted marketing which
has helped win over some age groups which may
have been more resistant to digital currencies.
“Endcash is primarily targeted to what we
consider to be our millennials, those in the 18 to
40 age range. You’ll get some of the Gen Zs in
there as well. So your Gen Ys and Gen Zs that will
be our primary market. However, you would have
those persons having parents, who possibly still
depend on their parents for some sort of
financing.
We are in what we call the growth stage of the
product or the introductory stage of our product.
And we realise that to get adoption of the
product, we need to have some concessions.
“What we do is we try to target that older
segment in terms of creating an awareness of the
product and showing them not only how to use
the product from a purchasing perspective, but as
a money transfer channel,” said Cooper.
Credit growing
Apart from the increased usage of Endcash, the
bank has also noted a significant increase in
activity in the loan market.
“It’s definitely on the increase in terms of
demand compared to 2020 and 2021. Those years
were, of course, unusually challenging in terms of
demand for credit, but last year 2022 we saw an
increase in demand and over this fiscal year and
coming into this Christmas season, we are also
seeing an increase in demand.
So it’s trending positively from our perspective,
in terms of demand for credit facilities.
And we are trying to assist in whatever we can,”
said Cooper.
However, while there has been an increase in
demand for credit, the trends remains the same
in terms of activity.
“Debt consolidation and refinancing continue to
be our big sellers. That’s actually how it was preCOVID. And we also continue to see high demand
for vehicle loans, as well as personal loans. So we
haven’t seen any changes in terms of the top five
loan categories or loan purpose.
It has not changed.
“Debt consolidation, refinancing personal loans,
vehicle loans, home equity, meaning for home
improvement or home repairs etc, they have
traditionally been your top sellers or the loans in
most demand, and they continue to be like that,”
said Cooper.
Photo - Damian Cooper, marketing manager, personal
segments, Republic Bank