Introducing Hypermedia’s new service – “HyperWallet”
What is Hypermedia’s “HyperWallet” service, and how do I implement it to meet my needs.
Overview
In developing countries, banking services are rare to find. People who need an immediate access to cash to manage their physical transactions are in a continuous problem.
While many countries replaced the need for holding physical money with advanced digital transactions through the internet, some countries still suffer from partial to non-existent internet coverage.
Mobile Payments using USSD Transactions
Mobile Payments using USSD Transactions
For this problem, USSD transactions are a perfect solution. USSD transactions are mostly used in these countries to transfer air time (Vtu) and bandwidth balance (Data Plans) between people.
Another new development of USSD transaction is its usage as “Mobile Payment”.
Mobile Payment is a fairly new service and refers to payment services performed from a mobile device. Instead of paying with credit cards, cash or checks, the consumer can utilize his cellular phone to pay for purchasing goods or simply transferring money between people – in a variety of methods.
One method we would like to discuss here is USSD transactions. The implementation of USSD in this manner is quite simple. The sender sends a transaction order through USSD (for instance) by using the recipient’s number (and some more parameters) in the transaction order.
The “Mobile Payment” can be done by having the mobile device communicates with banking services, in what’s commonly called “Telephone Banking”. In this method the bank links accounts to a phone number as an identifying method.
Mobile Payments can also be done independently from the bank, such as in the popular “Orange Money” service. These services are referred to as “unbanked” or “underbanked”.
This transforms the cellular phone into an advanced electronic wallet and while some western countries are only now starting the foray into the field of electronic wallets, in these developing countries mobile payment and e-wallets have been a reality for many years.
Shortcomings of USSD transactions
Mobile Payments using USSD Transactions
For this problem, USSD transactions are a perfect solution. USSD transactions are mostly used in these countries to transfer air time (Vtu) and bandwidth balance (Data Plans) between people.
Another new development of USSD transaction is its usage as “Mobile Payment”.
Mobile Payment is a fairly new service and refers to payment services performed from a mobile device. Instead of paying with credit cards, cash or checks, the consumer can utilize his cellular phone to pay for purchasing goods or simply transferring money between people – in a variety of methods.
One method we would like to discuss here is USSD transactions. The implementation of USSD in this manner is quite simple. The sender sends a transaction order through USSD (for instance) by using the recipient’s number (and some more parameters) in the transaction order.
The “Mobile Payment” can be done by having the mobile device communicates with banking services, in what’s commonly called “Telephone Banking”. In this method the bank links accounts to a phone number as an identifying method.
Mobile Payments can also be done independently from the bank, such as in the popular “Orange Money” service. These services are referred to as “unbanked” or “underbanked”.
This transforms the cellular phone into an advanced electronic wallet and while some western countries are only now starting the foray into the field of electronic wallets, in these developing countries mobile payment and e-wallets have been a reality for many years.
The solution – HyperWallet
And that’s exactly where Hypermedia’s “HyperWallet” comes in. Hypermedia developed an API that together with their SimBox solution can operate as an intermediary. HyperWallet can send massive amounts of transactions, receive the responses from the operators and knows how to sort the responses to a “Pass” or “Fail” HTML output and associate them with the correct transaction.
HyperWallet can work with multiple protocols, such as USSD, STK and SMS and its major advantage is that it selects the right SIM for each transaction. If transferring air time to a specific client is cheaper through one operator, it will automatically choose the right SIM for that purpose. If transferring money is easier, faster or cheaper from a specific bank account (linked to a specific SIM) HyperWallet will route the transaction to the right SIM, send the code correctly and sort the feedback to a “Pass” or “Fail” while associating it with the original USSD transaction.
This service also opens many opportunities for small businesses to make their own transactions not having to rely on an intermediary agency. Many operators won’t deal with small businesses, since they do not meet the minimum threshold amount of transactions, and as a result refer them to some intermediary agency who will also take a cut.
From now on, it doesn’t matter how big you are or how many transactions you perform, HyperMedia’s HyperWallet will let you deal directly with the operator, saving time, money and hassle.
HyperWallet features and limitations
For clarification, HyperWallet is not a complete product on its own. It serves as a vital component in any system as a USSD convertor (Pull only), which also outputs simple HTML responses. This product allows its implementation into any existing setup easily. It comes with an enhanced API, consisting of an enriched set of commands programmed into the SIM, to create an interactive exchange between the network and the end user smoothly and transparently.
HyperWallet API is a JSON-based comprehensive utility which easily enables implementation of applications for the SIM cards in your Hypermedia’s SimBox.
Some examples for implementations of Hypermedia’s HyperWallet:
- A local kiosk selling airtime (Vtu) and bandwidth (Data Plans). With HyperWallet you can buy and sell airtime (A2C) from customers with a click of a button and full automation. The HyperWallet will automatically choose the right SIM depending in the client’s number.
- Local businesses can charge and receive money easily and get the reference number (transaction ID) for confirmation and full integration with most modern CRM systems.
- Local change offices can receive money in variety of ways, PayPal, wire transfer and many other electronic solutions, and after clearing the transfer, automatically send the amount received to a client’s cellular phone (and vice versa) – transforming HyperWallet into a complete Clearing System.
- An employer can pay salaries in a bulk payment. Instead of typing each transaction manually you can do it with a click of a button.
This solution provides a reliable and secure alternative to external services, providing your business with a powerful set of integration abilities.
Transactions supported:
- Money Transfers like M-PESA Deposit / Withdraw (cash in/out)
- Bill Payments like GoTV, DsTV, StarTimes, Smile, Spectranet, Electricity bills
- Bulk Payments (E.G.: salaries)
- Airtime transfer / Airtime Top-Up (Vtu)
- Cellular Data Plans credit transfer
Key Features:
- Third party application support: HTTP/JSON API
- Maximize interaction with service provider
- Phone-free operation
- Variety of protocols supported – USSD, SMS and SIM Tool Kit (STK)
- Multiple operator support
- Multiple parallel transactions support
- A robust queue management and a priority redundancy solution
- API support from the cellular operator is not needed
Don’t hesitate to call hypermedia’s specialists to get your own HyperWallet today!
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