But the establishment of ZunguZ, a payment platform that was one of the first apps to be included in the Facebook App Centre, means that users can easily purchase i-Tune vouchers at any time.
Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, tech-preneurs behind ZunguZ, say the platform is disruptive to the market because it places people and their established contacts at the centre, with payment services as an extension to a relationship at the point of sale.
Sussman says ZunguZ is to existing payment methods as one would look at Facebook to email.
“Facebook hasn’t replaced email, but is often a preferred method of contact between people, due to the intelligence and established link between contacts” he comments.
As a platform with deep integration into Facebook and financial services ZunguZ has already captured the attention of the market.
South African users can transact via Facebook and can choose to direct their money into any SA bank account.
Management is currently in negotiation with several established international banks and financial institutions to extend the service to their clients globally.
“The offering is being consistently developed with enhanced intelligence and functionality to ensure value-add to the consumer, initially within emerging markets, but eventually to other mature markets,” Sussman explains.
