Seeking to both modernise and align with regulatory standards on payments, the OPT has transferred control of its financial activity from its subsidiary Fare Rata to a new credit institution, Marara Paiement. This new institution offers a range of digital tools, such as digital payment terminals which allow instant payments by bank transfer, QR code or contactless payments, along with supporting apps that allow immediate payments between individuals. While it cannot lend money itself, Marara Paiement can facilitate lending by intermediation.
In the place of cheques, which account-holders will no longer be able to use, the new service seeks to encourage the use of debit cards, which almost 40% of active account holders currently do not use. Customers will be able to access a range of services online from Monday. The credit institution hopes to keep its products the cheapest in the country.
The OPT is one of many postal services across the world embracing digital transformation in recent years, as noted in a series of convenings held by Mastercard and the Universal Postal Union in 2021.
According to Mastercard, digital transformation of the postal service business model has accelerated in recent years due to ecommerce growth and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event triggered conclusions such as the fact that integrating digital efficiency, accuracy, and security and offering new digitally optimised services can help postal systems diversify and grow sustainably.
Public–private partnerships were considered a ‘force multiplie’ for helping postal services overcome digitisation challenges with early movers in digital transformation reporting business success. This was the cited example of the postal system of Costa Rica which expanded from 15 to 60 commercial services in the last few years and has registered significand growth in logistics and courier revenues, becoming the country’s dominant provider of ecommerce delivery services.
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