To bring remittances, bill payments, group investments, lending and food as well as gas orders into one app, pan-African payments firm Cellulant has been quietly creating a payments super app. The company has announced a major rebrand of its Mula consumer brand to Tingg — a unified platform — turning it into what is said to be the first payments super app in Africa, TechMoran reported.
On why the company rebranded and consolidated its brands, Cellulant Chief of Brand Divine Muragijimana said per the report, “Fundamentally, when you think about our vision of connecting everyone to everything, it boils down to providing an inclusive platform where commerce takes place seamlessly. Technology is making payments easier, faster and cheaper thus putting the focus on the exchange of goods and services and adding value to the end-consumer.”
Muragijimana continued, “This is what Tingg offers for individuals and businesses who are looking for a simplified, personalized one-stop-shop for their lifestyle needs.”
The company rolled out its Mula payments service four years ago, according to the report, that changed how consumers paid as well as managed their bills.
Through Mula, consumers could purchase airtime and pay all their utility bills within a single service. Tingg, on the other hand, was described by the report as a digital payment as well as a commerce platform that is more layered and will cater to different segments of businesses and consumers.
The report said that per an official LinkedIn account, Tingg is a new unifying brand identity that will deliver on the promise of a single and robust payments platform for Africa’s marketplace. In the words of the report, “The new brand combines all the best features that made Mula — a bills payment platform great, and what the original mark — Cellulant — stands for, whilst simultaneously moving the brand forward.”
With the potential for job creation and rapid growth, FinTech firms in Africa have caught the attention of global investors. According to the London Stock Exchange Group’s 2019 “Companies to Inspire Africa” report, which highlights these firms, the FinTech sector has the second-highest growth rate representation of technology and telecoms as well as financial services.
Companies in this space, as it stands, represent over a quarter of 360 featured firms from 32 different countries. Cellulant was among the companies that appeared in the first and second editions of the report.
