S. African firm LovCash Banking on Blockchain Technology to Modernise Cash-Intensive Commerce Sector
In a significant move to modernise South Africa's informal economy, the blockchain-powered platform LovCash has partnered with German blockchain company Lisk. This collaboration aims to digitise one of the continent's most cash-heavy and complex ecosystems, which accounts for nearly 20% of the country's employment.
LovCash leverages Lisk's Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain infrastructure to deliver real-time data, digital payments, and loyalty rewards to informal traders, small retailers, and wholesalers operating in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) markets. The partnership is set to reduce cash dependence, digitise supply chain operations, and provide real-time sales tracking and data insights, ultimately enhancing trade efficiency, security, and financial transparency for fragmented informal retail networks.
The partnership has already seen rapid adoption, with LovCash onboarding over 3,700 small and medium-sized retailers and partnering with nine of South Africa’s largest wholesalers, driving 275% platform growth in just five months. This growth has been accompanied by support from major FMCG players integrating the blockchain payments solution across informal retail distribution, signalling growing trust in blockchain technology for large-scale ground operations.
Lisk has committed to investing directly in LovCash, providing both funding and technical support. The exact sum has not been disclosed, but this investment positions LovCash as a key startup in the Lisk ecosystem, aimed at high-growth and cost-sensitive markets.
The goal is to introduce a digital-first payment, rewards, and commerce system to replace cash, improving trade, benefits, security, transparency, and efficiency. By building its platform on Lisk's blockchain, LovCash hopes to cut the estimated R3.3 billion (over $183 million) annual losses from cash-related fraud and theft in South Africa's informal economy by creating tamper-proof, traceable transactions.
Lisk's COO, Dominic Schwenter, stated that the partnership with LovCash extends beyond payment rails, addressing real-world supply chain challenges and offering tangible value. LovCash sees a significant opportunity in digitising South Africa's informal economy, which employs about 20% of the country's workforce but remains largely cash-based.
Early bird tickets for the Moonshot event, featuring Africa's top founders, creatives, and tech leaders, are available, offering a 20% discount. This event, returning to Lagos on October 15-16, will provide a platform for discussing the future of Africa's digital economy and the role of partnerships like LovCash and Lisk's in shaping it.
[1] https://www.lovcash.co/ [2] https://www.lisk.io/ [3] https://www.moonshot.africa/ [4] https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/718/197478.html
- The partnership between LovCash and Lisk is providing funding to LovCash, allowing them to digitize one of Africa's most cash-heavy economies, using blockchain technology to deliver real-time data, digital payments, and loyalty rewards.
- With the support of Lisk, LovCash aims to reduce cash dependence and create tamper-proof, traceable transactions in South Africa's informal economy, as part of a larger goal to replace cash with a digital-first payment, rewards, and commerce system.
