How Asseco PST worked on KWiK, the new transfer platform in Angola

The Angolan financial system recently introduced a new universally accepted payment instrument with the launch of KWiK, or Instant Kwanza. At Asseco PST, we have accompanied the process from the outset, providing banks with a range of solutions designed to meet the market needs.

The purpose defined by the Banco Nacional de Angola (BNA) was clear: the aim was to leverage financial inclusion throughout the territory, thus increasing the banking access rate and creating a payment system accessible to the entire Angolan population. The focus was on creating a platform of mobile transfers and instant transfers of funds - also essential for promoting the formalization of the economy and access to microcredit (which is the main goal of a financial inclusion program).

In partnership with EMIS, a new, modern, inclusive, and user-friendly payment instrument emerged, adapted to the reality of the non-banking world. The KWiK solution is now seen as one of the most innovative and comprehensive in the African market, ensuring the conditions for interoperability between payment service providers and the banking system. All this while simultaneously encouraging the emergence of mobile payment solutions, which are also essential for increasing financial inclusion.

In between, a wide range of challenges were solved to ensure that a KWiK transfer provides the same experience for any user in any context of use, ensuring maximum efficiency and safety for all.

On Asseco PST's side, involvement in the KWiK project meant two years of intense work and many challenges, particularly of a technical nature but not only, overcome in successive phases.

The aim was to provide our client banks with a set of solutions to follow the desired evolution in a structured way. All to enable banks to offer this new service to their own customers, taking advantage of the KWiK solution in a way that meets the requirements of the new payment model.

A key factor throughout the process has been the close collaboration between the BNA, EMIS (the interbank services company that manages the Multicaixa network and payment systems), the banks, and Asseco PST. The challenges are not over yet, and the next two years will continue to bring new developments in the area of payment systems in Angola.

For now, we have a system that allows users to make transfers from a single platform, send money, and pay for purchases, invoices, and other expenses without having to carry cash in their pockets, which is no small feat.