Nedbank has launched South Africa’s first solar branch in Mncwasa, 60 km from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
Tthe Nedbank solar-powered branch is the first-to-market of its kind and aims to provide “convenient banking solutions to a community without banking facilities through SolarTurtle, a mobile service provider owned by members of the Mncwasa community.”
Opening the Mncwasa branch was also a result of a partnership with the Mbhashe Local Municipality, represented by Executive Mayor, Councillor Samkelo Janda, who spoke at the launch on Saturday.
“More than 69% of the Mncwasa community is economically inactive and depends on child support grants, with employment concentrated among teachers and small-scale entrepreneurs,” a Nedbank statement said.
“The solar branch is situated in a rural area and will enable community members to access financial services such as cashless banking, and make use of digital-payment solutions through Masterpass,” a digital app developed by the bank.
James van der Walt, CEO of SolarTurtle, says, ‘This solar Nedbank branch will offer cutting edge e-banking technology to an area where banks normally don’t go.”
“This will allow rural clients to open accounts, receive money from their relatives and even take personal loans so they can buy solar-power solutions for their own homes. All this is done cash-free through a phone, making it safe and secure,” he said.
