After a period of intensive on-island testing the St Helena Payment App was formally launched on 8th March 2023. It was then celebrated with dignitaries and invited guests at Richards Travel Lodge and a few days later, with the project team at Rosie’s “Taste 4 Life” restaurant.Shown in the photograph are Rosie Bargo former managing director of the Bank of St Helena who initiated the original project. From the Bank of St Helena are Joey George the current managing director, who saw the project through to completion, and Kim Francis the bank’s technical lead. In attendance from International Financial Systems are Chairman Terry Day and Managing Director Matthew Day.
St Helena is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island 1,950 kilometres west of the coast of south-western Africa, and 4,000 kilometres east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constituent parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha.
St Helena is the United Kingdom’s second-oldest overseas territory after Bermuda. It has a population of about 4,500 people and is one of the most remote islands in the world. It was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese enroute to the Indian subcontinent in 1502. For about four centuries the island was an important stopover for ships from Europe to Asia and back, while sailing around the African continent, until the opening of the Suez Canal.
St Helena is perhaps best known for being the site of Napoleon’s second exile, following his final defeat in 1815 and for having the world’s oldest living mammal in the shape of Jonathan the tortoise. It is also a haven for sailors, divers, and military historians.
For many years St Helena was only accessible by ship but with the planned development of an airport the St Helena Government set up the bank in 2004 to provide banking services to the local population and the anticipated increase in tourists. Prior to the creation of the bank all banking services were provided by the SHG.
Until the introduction of the St Helena Pay card in 2018 St Helena was a cash-based society only. A study was previously commissioned to consider the cost and effectiveness of introducing Visa or MasterCard on island together with several ATM machines. However, the economics did not work for such a small community, and it was decided to build the St Helena Pay debit card for bank account holders.
Since the completion of the airport in 2017, and until the start of the pandemic, the number of tourists visiting the island had increased. The tourist industry is now recovering and is expected to continue to grow in the future. In recognition that cash wouldn’t necessarily suit visitors to the island, and as they had no access to the St Helena Pay card it was decided to develop the St Helena Pay App.
The St Helena Pay App is effectively a virtual prepaid card that can be loaded by the visitor before leaving home against an existing bank card. It can be used at any merchant displaying the St Helena Pay symbol.
The St Helena Pay App is accepted at over 60% of the St Helena merchant community and is also accepted by merchants on Ascension. The App can be topped up whilst away from home and any remaining balance can be repaid to the originating card when returning home.
Managing Director Joey George said that creating the St Helena Pay App and the infrastructure on which it runs, and the acceptance of the business community had been a long journey with many challenges, but she was delighted to be able to finally announce its arrival.
It will make things so much easier for visitors to the island. There is no longer the need to go to the bank to draw cash and then carry it around in your pocket or purse with the risk that it will get lost. We recognise that the St Helena Pay App on its own is not going to transform the St Helena tourist industry, but it is the oil around which the engine can be built.
iFinancial Managing Director Matthew Day said we have been working with the government of St Helena and the bank in partnership since 1999. We have witnessed the development and evolution of the bank over that time and are very pleased to have been involved in this latest initiative. Not only does it bring enormous benefits to the island but the cost to the merchant is a fraction of alternative solutions. The St Helena Pay App has been built using our iPayu technology.
iPayu is a P2B mobile and card payment solution that supports both scanned and NFC communications. The iPayu switch provides for multiple financial institution to work together in collaboration to provide nationwide coverage. The switch also allows for multiple currencies so that iPayu can be used in multi-island, multi-currency situations. Reconciliation and settlement between various financial institutions is done automatically at the end of each day.
