South African civic technology platform GovChat has introduced a virtual wallet which allows citizens to donate money to their preferred causes without constraints.
The new Virtual wallet by GovChat was launched after the 2019 World Economic Forum(WEF) gathering which took place in Davos. Primarily, the platform gives room for the government to receive feedback from citizens on its performance.
As part of its unique benefits, there are no transaction fees or costs attached to donations using the new virtual wallet.
Speaking on the innovation, Eldrid Jordaan, founder, and CEO of GovChat said, “What our team has noticed over the last 6 months is a number of scammers seeking cash and funding in and around disaster areas. Such actions have a devastating impact on the ‘gifting-economy’ that’s being driven by the many superb NGO’s and Community Organisations that band together to get things done.
“Removing barriers that prevent valuable, lifesaving Rand donations from reaching communities that are devastated by a disaster is well worth the effort. Our aim is to bring communities and their government closer together – We hope to achieve that by continuing to build technology anchored in social good.”
Currently, GovChat is available across 3 platforms, namely: WhatsApp, a website, and USSD.
The feature will not only be available to GovChat users in South Africa but in other countries such as Ghana where GovChat launched with the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan.
GovChat users in any Afrikan country will be able to give money to their chosen cause, relief organization or national disaster in 3 easy WhatsApp prompts.
Shedding more light potentials of the platform, Chief Data Officer at GovChat, Goitse Konopi said, “As a data-driven business, at every level, GovChat is about understanding how citizens are interacting with the platform across all channels, including WhatsApp.
“What we’re coming to grips with are the massive opportunities that many of our features can provide for our partners, NGO, CBOs etc. We’ve been listening to activists and community leaders that are running these life-changing organizations, and committed ourselves through our partnership team to make the giving process more seamless.”
