La Poste Tunisienne, the national postal services of Tunisia, has announced the launch of a national payment platform powered by the Monetas platform.
Monetas, a Swiss software company focusing on blockchain-based infrastructures, will provide la Poste Tunisienne with an enhanced version of the institution’s payment app.
The new digital payment infrastructure will enable e-Dinar users to make instant, secure peer-to-peer mobile transfers, pay online merchants, brick-and-mortar businesses, pay their utility bills, send remittances, as well as manage official government identification documents, Monetas said.
E-Dinar is a digital wallet service from la Poste Tunisienne launched in 2000 as part of the government’s e-Tijara initiative.
The wallet is linked to an online account that can be refilled with top up cards, via credit card, bank transfer, or in cash at post offices. Users of e-Dinar can pay for goods and services, as well as withdraw cash using its debit card, the e-Dinar Universel.
The new collaboration between Monetas, Tunisian technology startup DigitUs and Tunisia’s Post is aimed at increasing financial inclusion in a country where more than 3 million citizens are still excluded from the financial system.
“La Poste is a very important and trusted institution and is at the heart of financial inclusion efforts in Tunisia,” Moez Chakchouk, CEO at la Poste Tunisienne said in a statement.
Transaction fees will be negligible and shouldn’t surpass one third of a dinar (~US$0.17). In most cases, the fees will be paid by merchants and free to consumers, Monetas said.
Chakchouk said that Tunisia’s Post was “on a transformation journey” to modernize its services with innovative technologies and “power the digital economy.”
According Findex, 90% of Tunisians who have a bank account, are banked with la Poste Tunisienne.
