TuYu mobile wallet app usage stats for 2017

It’s been an amazing year for us!

We’ve seen record usage of our platform this year, which is testament to the power of mobile payments and how ready SA is to swap cash for mobile wallet app technology.

But before we dive into the numbers, we need to look at how this all started and the core contributors to the stats which follow.

Solving the incentive problem with mobile wallet app technology

When we launched in 2013, our goal was to solve the issue that many businesses in South Africa contend with daily: how to drive the right behaviours with the use of incentives?

Traditional staff and consumer incentive models, like gift cards and spot prizes, have their place, but they’ve lost their modern-day appeal.

Gift cards can be mislaid or forgotten, and acquiring and distributing them is expensive.

On the other hand, spot prizes are a gamble. While the idea of a new TV sounds exciting, not every employee or consumer needs another one.

Reward types aside, there are other inherent problems that businesses face when building their incentive programmes. Issues like the delay between qualifying for and receiving a reward causes participant to lose interest, defeating the purpose of the programme.

It was clear that these and other challenges in the incentives space needed to be addressed.

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NOTABLE STATS:

*All stats mentioned were recorded from December 2016 to December 2017.

• Total rewards loaded in ZAR: Up by 209%
• Total volume of rewards loaded: Up by 173%

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Strong mobile influence

Mobile wallet app usage is on the rise globally. In 2015, market size was around US$675 bn and is projected to grow to US$1,602.4 bn by the end of 2018.

Locally, we saw the growth of mobile usage and the fact that Africa has deeper mobile phone penetration than computers as a strong contributor to potential success.

The cost of airtime and data is another factor that influences consumer usage of mobile phones and mobile money, and with more competitive offers from local mobile networks, using smartphones and feature phones has become more affordable.

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NOTABLE STATS:

• 20,211 new users joined our platform this year. This is up by 269% from last year.
• The average amount of rewards loaded per month was 2,264. This means we averaged 75 rewards per day, which equates to a reward being distributed every 19 minutes.

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Making a meaningful difference

Considering the factors above, bringing mobile money and incentives together wasn’t a stretch.

We’ve been able to create a turnkey solution that can be rolled out within any business.

We knew that focusing on just the smartphone market would limit our reach, so we opted to include USSD functionality. Today, users with feature phones can access all the features available from our smartphone applications via USSD.

We offer a self-service portal where companies can upload funds and instantly pay out cash rewards to staff.

We also offer API integrations to automate reward payouts.

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NOTABLE STATS:

• The average reward amount was R374.
• Our highest reward payout was R23,478 and the lowest reward payout was R1.87.

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Our platform is used in many ways. We have clients who issue weekly meal cash vouchers, while others use it to employee supplement transport costs, and incentivise consumers to increase brand loyalty.

Our model has also developed since 2013. We support consumer incentives and, more recently, have started working on a solution to help financial services companies streamline the payout of grocery benefits to unbanked and underbanked South Africans.

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NOTABLE STATS:

• The highest redemption in-store this year was R11,694.
• We are extremely proud to announce that our redemption rate this year was: 94%. This means that 94% of all rewards distributed were redeemed by our users.

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Retailers are on board

Our most popular redemption partner this year was Pick ‘n Pay

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NOTABLE STATS:

• The total number of redemptions this year was 66,718 . This was up by 255% when compared to last year.
• The average number of redemptions per month was 5,560. This means we averaged 185 redemptions per day, which equates to a redemption every 8 minutes.

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An important part of our solution is working with our retail partners. Today, TuYu mobile wallet app and USSD users can spend rewards at over 70,000 tills across SA.

Having a variety of retailers makes the choice of spending mobile money simpler for consumers.

Recent additions that we’re proud of include Engen and Total. Having them on board makes mobile payments an even more convenient option for more South Africans.

We like to look at mobile wallet convenience in terms of the average day in the life of a TuYu user and what TuYu rewards can be used for.

Today, you can purchase groceries, dine out or get takeaways, buy clothing, sports equipment and supplements, jewellery, and fill up your tank for the road.

The stats summary

The following stats were recorded from December 2016 to December 2017:

• Total rewards loaded in ZAR: Up by 209%
• Total volume of rewards loaded: Up by 173%

NEW USERS:

• A total of 20,211 new user joined our platform this year, this is up by 269% from last year.
• The average amount of rewards loaded per month was 2,264. This means we averaged 75 rewards per day, which equates to a reward being distributed every 19 minitues.
• The average reward amount was R374 with our highest reward payout being R23,478 and the lowest R1.87

REDEMPTIONS:

• The highest redemption in-store this year was R11,694.
• We are extremely proud to announce that our redemption rate this year was 94%. This is a significant milestone as it shows 94% of all rewards distributed were redeemed by our users.
• Our most popular redemption partner this year was Pick ‘n Pay.
• The total number of redemptions this year was 66,718 . This number is up by 255% compared to last year.
• The average number of redemptions per month was 5,560.
• We averaged 185 redemptions per day, which equates to a redemption every 8 minutes.

Conclusion

Mobile wallet app payments are on the rise, and more South Africans are opting to pay with mobile wallets because it’s become more convenient. Dining out, going grocery shopping and other necessities can now easily be paid for using TuYu rewards, making it easier for businesses to incentivise staff and consumers.