Wednesday 03 June, 2020
Fiji’s commercial large scale farming today made a breakthrough announcement after the Chief Executive Officer of the AMA Alvin Sharma signed an agreement for Vodafone Fiji’s M-PAiSA mobile money as an official payment channel. The cashless payment method will enable Fiji Agro Marketing to pay its registered farmers directly on their mobile phone. It is a safe, secure and highly efficient payment method that will take away all the risk of carrying large amounts of cash – both for Fiji Agro Marketing and the Farmers.
“Vodafone’s M-PAiSA cashless payment through mobile phone is fast becoming the new normal in the Fijian economy”, said the Mr. Ritesh Dass – Permanent Secretary for Agriculture. Even though paying with cash is still predominant in Fiji, in most developed markets, cash is fast losing its prominence as cashless and electronic payments become the new norm. The global COVID 19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of contactless cashless payments as the safer way to pay”.
“My Ministry has been looking for innovative ways to streamline the payments process which involved large sums of money being transacted on site of delivery. This new electronic payment method is instant, safe, secure and eliminates the hassle of carrying large amounts of hard cash and associated risks”, said Mr. Dass.
This decision by Fiji Agro Marketing is most timely and highly commendable. The farmerssupplying to Fiji Agro Marketing will first need to be registered for M-PAiSA in order to receive payments through this channel. There is no cost to register and maintain an M-PAISA account. Once, payment is received by the farmers, they can use other M-PAiSA cashless payment option such as paying their water and EFL bills, paying their workers and even do their shopping without the need to withdraw cash.
Vodafone Fiji’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mr. Rajnesh Prasad said, “We are delighted to partner Fiji Agro Marketing in this cashless payment revolution and offer additional benefits to both our customers. A number of additional payment services through M-PAiSA is available to users at no cost to users such as water and electricity bill payments, purchasing airlines tickets, movie tickets and paying for grocery shopping at major supermarkets Fiji wide. A lot more businesses are now joining the cashless revolution as people realize the need for online platforms and cashless payments.”
