Facebook IPO, Instagram acquisition and lawsuits have been front page news in recent weeks.

Many analysts around the world are waiting in anticipation to see what the IPO will have on the social media giant.

Recently-released figures from the global social media and digital analytics company, Socialbaker, have brought some interesting statistics to light that are definitely worth noting.

Of the 901 million Facebook users, 488 million ( 54%) of users access the popular social network via mobile platforms.

Its analysis based on the recent submission of IPO documents from Facebook revealed that Nigeria is the country with the highest Facebook mobile penetration in the world, with 81.2% penetration.

Other African countries in the top 10 are:

• South Africa (80.5%),
• Malawi (78.3%),
• Namibia (76.7%),
• Botswana (75.4%) and
• Zambia (73.9%).

“Although the total number of Facebook users compared to the Nigerian population is low, they are growing rapidly,” states Team Leader for ICT, Ian Duvenage, at Frost & Sullivan Africa.

“The mobile carrier Orange, part of France Telecom, recently announced an initiative that will make it easier for the African subscriber to access Facebook on-the-go, using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology. This is a low-bandwidth option, which bypasses costly data prices in Africa, making it possible to get onto Facebook on pretty much any phone.”

In a recent study on mobile money, conducted by Frost & Sullivan, it was indicated that Orange has been successful in driving a number of client payments through their mobile payments platform.

The move by Orange, which operates in 20 countries covering 70 million subscribers in Africa, in easing the use of social network access, combined with their mobile payment offering, could play a significant role in driving users to the mobile platform and especially Facebook. This would make sense, as the popular social networking site has seen explosive growth throughout Africa.

Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley seem to have taken note.

Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, in particular, have recently developed ZunguZ, a person-to-person payment solution that works off interaction between associates that are linked via a network. It is believed that the concept of using Facebook as a channel to exchange money between friends will grow significantly.

And ZunguZ is hoping to take advantage of the opportunity.

“It seems like the social nature of interaction in Africa is thriving in the mobile culture, and that Facebook is the leader paving the way,” concludes Duvenage.

“Whoever capitalises on the opportunity to introduce additional services through the Facebook mobile platform in Africa will be well set in future.”

http://www.livdigital.co.za/independent/2012/05/09/is-facebook-mobile-paving-the-way-for-mobile-services-in-africa/

By Admire Moyo, ITWeb’s portals writer.

Banking on Africa where an estimated 38 million people use Facebook, according to Internet World Stats, ZunguZ has vowed to introduce new online payment system compatible with the social site to disrupt the world’s top online payment platforms.

Zunguz, a new, but already hugely successful multi-tiered online payment platform (that on the 1^st tier of its platform alone) has the ability for receiving and transferring money on social networks without any transaction charges, bank account or an email address, says it’s targeting on the increasing number of Africans and emerging market users looking to enable online transactions.

Although the number represents only 6.2 percent of the global Facebook population, Zunguz founders say they do not expect major competition from mobile and online payments platforms including M-Pesa, Google Wallet, PayPal Wallet, Facebook Credits, and Square.  ZunguZ to current payment services is like comparing Facebook to email.  They are both connectivity tools, but the one is built with people at the centre and therefore understands its user base.  ZunguZ is not a payment platform at its core.  It is the intelligence layer, where ZunguZ is completely different, in that it is built with people at the centre.

“We’ve been looking for a payment social-based platform and system for a decade and with Facebook taking off, we started to see the opportunity to place people at the centre of the payments ecosystem,” said Robert Sussman, ZunguZ co-founder.

Facebook has over 900 million users with over 450 million logging in every day, according to Digital Buzz statistics.

Sussman told HumanIPO the system allows transfer of funds between people linked on Facebook including friends, retailers, buyers, charity organisations or mainstream companies, with a Facebook profile.

According to Sussman, Facebook users in South Africa claim the payment app simplifies money transfer process as it connects banking systems to the social graph.

The app’s simplicity, Sussman says, is its other driving point as it solely requires the user to have a Facebook account, a mobile phone number and a PIN for secuirty.

Users will also be able to shop online with ZunguZ without having to withdraw the money. They also share information of what they purchased on social networks and can earn rewards from the retailers when one of their links buys a shared good.

Users can also configure the Z button on any site with a Facebook profile and use ZunguZ in any transaction including collection of funds for groups, sending money as a gift or donation to charities.

ZunguZ says it expects to make money through the successive sales.

ZunguZ underwent BETA testing successfully in 2011 and presently, the company has developed and released version 1.3.5.1 to Facebook.

The service is currently extending to India, Mexico and in the US.

Sussman says ZunguZ has the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of over 900 million users across the world.

ZunguZ is an innovation of Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, serial high impact internet entrepreneurs with a budding South African technology firm Integr8. ZunguZ has offices in Cape Town, South Africa and Palo Alto, Silicon Valley.

Banking on Africa where an estimated 38 million people use Facebook, according to Internet World Stats, ZunguZ has vowed to introduce new online payment system compatible with the social site to defeat world’s top online payment platforms.

Zunguz, a new online payment platform for receiving and transferring money on social network via credit card or PayPal without any transaction charges, bank account or an email address, says it’s targeting on the increasing number of Africans looking for online transactions.

Although the number represents only 6.2 percent of the global Facebook population, Zunguz founders say they do not expect major competition from mobile and online payments platforms including M-Pesa, Google Wallet, PayPal Wallet, Facebook Credits, and Square since none of the systems use social networking sites.

“We’ve been looking for a payment social-based platform and system for a decade and with Facebook taking off, we started to see the opportunity to place people at the centre of the payments ecosystem,” said Robert Sussman, ZunguZ co-founder.

As of last year December, Facebook had over 500 million users with over 250 million logging in every day, according to Digital Buzz statistics.

Sussman told HumanIPO the system allows transfer of funds between people linked on Facebook including friends, retailers, buyers, charity organisations or mainstream companies — with a Facebook profile.

According to Sussman, Facebook users in South Africaclaim the payment app simplifies money transfer process as it connects banking systems to Facebook’s social graph.

The app’s simplicity, Sussman says, is its other driving point as it solely requires the user to have a Facebook account, a mobile phone number and a PIN.

Users can in addition shop online with ZunguZ without having to withdraw the money.They also share information of what they purchased on social networks and can earn rewards from the retailers when one of their links buys a shared good.

Users can also configure the Z button on any site with a Facebook profile and use ZunguZ in any transaction including collection of funds for groups, sending money as a gift or donation to charities.

ZunguZ says it expects to make money through the successive sales.

ZunguZ underwent BETA testing successfully in December 2011 and presently, the company has developed and released version 1.3.5.1 to Facebook.

A number of social media and financial service institutions including Citibank in New York have also used the system. The service is currently extending to India, Mexico and in the US.

Sussman says ZunguZ has the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of over 850 million users across the world.

ZunguZ is an innovation of Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, serial internet entrepreneurs with a budding South African technology firm integr8. ZunguZ has offices in Delaware USA and Palo Alto, Silicon Valley.

The concept of using Facebook as a premier secure channel to exchange mobile money between friends will grow in significance and quickly – so claim the business leaders behind ZunguZ, a multi-tiered platform that integrates deeply into the social graph and a host of financial services to empower the consumer.

The Concept of Using Facebook as a Premier Secure Channel to Exchange Mobile Money Between Friends Will Gro…

The concept of using Facebook as a premier secure channel to exchange mobile money between friends will grow in significance and quickly – so claim the business leaders behind ZunguZ, a multi-tiered platform that integrates deeply into the social graph and a host of financial services to empower the consumer.
ZunguZ is the flagship product of ZunguZ Inc. a Delaware USA company with a presence in the heart of Palo Alto, Silicon Valley, not far from Facebook, and a footprint in Cape Town, South Africa.
The founder of ZunguZ, high impact serial entrepreneurs, Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff, have been quick to position the offering clearly within a competitive marketplace.
Although listed amongst the likes of Google Wallet, PayPal Wallet, Facebook Credits, Square and M-Pesa, management stress that ZunguZ is not a competitor offering to various P2P, P2B and B2B payment systems.

Sussman refers to the multi-tier structure of ZunguZ with embedded intelligence behind the recently launched “Z-button” as a unique differentiator, and the core of the ZunguZ business model. It provides the functionality to facilitate automated, immediate online transactions without any hassle or delay.
This positions the offering at the forefront of a burgeoning area of technology and e-retail.
He points to a Social Impact Study 2012 which claims, based on a survey of 1088 online shoppers who use Facebook about the impact of social sharing (exchanging information about products with friends), that 75% of users who read these comments click through to the relevant retailer.
The offering and solution has complied with beta testing regulation. The first release (version 1.0) has been upgraded with consistent development and enhancement, developed and released to Facebook, and is now available in version 1.3.5.1.
ZunguZ is housed in a PCI compliance datacentre in Germany and incorporates security such as Thawte certification, SSL, and HTTPS, as well as second factor authentication, which are all prerequisites for integration with the platform.
Both Sussman and Fanaroff emphasise that the concept is based on using ones Facebook profile as a token of identification to activate a ZunguZ profile and thereby interact with friends.
This is a person-to-person payment solution that works off interaction between associates that are linked via a network.
“Money can be exchanged between registered users without any banking information required. ZunguZ and Facebook do not have access to theusers funds as this sits in local bank accounts. This is all handled by the banks, together with their standard level of banking security, regulation and compliance. ZunguZ is therefore not a bank, does not touch the money and there is no intention of it ever becoming a bank. We work with banks to bring their services to the social networks,” says Sussman.
Management at ZunguZ believe there is a great deal of truth in a quote by Seth Godin (sourced from Saucy Social Media): “”Build it, and they will come” only works in the movies. Social Media is a “build it, nurture it, engage them, and they may come and stay.”
Going forward Sussman and Fanaroff believe the principles of risk management and that which governs effective strategies to make initiatives work domestically, will pay dividends.
“Innovative entrepreneurs can drive initiatives forward. There has to be a careful and strategic balance between capital outlay and risk mitigation. We have considered the risk factor in building this initiative up locally and we believe we have the resources, expertise and knowledge of this environment to make this work,” adds Sussman.

ZunguZ – Sunday Times 1 April 2012

A decade ago, Rob Sussman and Lance Fanaroff started IT group Integr8. Now they’re back with a new venture, ZunguZ, a payment system that allows anyone on Facebook to pay anyone else, directly from within the social network. They’re hoping it’ll give shopping a social element and, if they’re fast, it could become the first serious payment platform on the world’s largest social network.

Talking to TechCentral from ZunguZ’s Cape Town office, Sussman says although he and his partner remain heavily involved with Integr8 as co-CEOs, ZunguZ is a separate and self-funded entity. The service has only been live for a few weeks, having first begun its testing phase in December.

“We’ve been looking for a payment social-based platform and system for a decade,” Sussman explains. “With Facebook taking off, we started to see the opportunity to place people at the centre of the payments ecosystem.”

ZunguZ’s proof of concept was ready in 2010 and beta testing began in 2011. “We took the idea to Facebook in Palo Alto [in California], to Citibank in New York and other companies involved in social media or banking to better understand the payment perspective.”

Sussman says the aim of the service isn’t to compete with PayPal, or with Facebook’s existing credits system where users can buy virtual goods with a virtual currency. Rather, ZunguZ is concerned with transferring real currency between people or from people to retailers, charities or anything else with a Facebook presence.

The service came out of closed beta in December 2011 in what Sussman calls a “soft launch” and the response to date has been “well beyond expectations”, with interest from banks and African telecommunications operators.

ZunguZ is a multi-tiered platform, the first tier of which is the person-to-person payments facility. Users simply install the ZunguZ application in Facebook and can then transfer money to one another.

“The beauty is that it’s not credits or tokens,” says Sussman. “It’s rands, dollars, pounds, whatever.”

For now, those looking to take money out of the system can only do so through one of SA’s four big banks. But as the service expands into more countries, it will make deals with other banks, too.

Sussman admits the hardest part of launching ZunguZ was getting local banks on board. “Payments are hard. You realise gaps in your knowledge quickly. We decided not to do the payments ourselves; we wanted the banks to do that”.

The second tier of the ZunguZ service allows users to create what Sussman calls a “Z-button” that can be configured for a purchase of an item, or a collection of funds for a group birthday present, or for donations to charities. “Like Amazon’s ‘1-Click’ [ordering system], there’s intelligence behind it. So if I want to sell an iPad, for example, I can build a button with a picture of it and, when a purchase is made, the money comes straight to my bank account.”

ZunguZ also gives users the option of sharing information about their purchase on social networks. In some instances, should a user share a purchase and someone else makes it they could earn a small cut, or a rebate, or a reward like airtime, for every subsequent purchase.

It’s here that ZunguZ intends to make its money. Vendors will pay it a small fee — the quantum of which is yet to be determined — for each successful sale using the service as the method of payment.

“The Z-button is currently a collection button. It’s perfect for charities or people doing collections for sports events,” Sussman says.

Aside from using Facebook credentials for verification, ZunguZ requires users to enter their cellphone number during registration so one-time passwords can be sent to them when they make purchases. “This is called second-factor authentication,” Sussman explains. “We also serve a unique link to the phone which can be used instead of the Pin by following the link.”

Sussman says in a forum he had with Reid Hoffman, the founder of business-focused social networking site LinkedIn, he was reminded that “if you’re not embarrassed by the first version of a product, you launched too late”. He says ZunguZ will continue to refine its service and expand its offering.

The third tier of ZunguZ platform is its application programming interface, allowing developers to create plug-ins for the service. These could anything where a developer wants Facebook integration and the ability to make or receive payments.

Sussman says the company plans to launch offerings in the US, Mexico and India soon and, although it has an office in Silicon Valley, that’s “mostly about business development”. The company intends to remain based in SA.

http://www.technologybanker.com/news/it-ops/social-media-sas-zunguz-breaks-the-norm

Allows Facebook users to pay each other using their bank account.

A quick review of the social media landscape reveals that African banks deploy social media more proactively as tools to address client concerns and boost customer involvement. For instance, Johannesburg’s ABSA bank runs an active Facebook page, which streams in customer grievances and queries and that are subsequently, and quite promptly, addressed by a bank representative.

Similarly other South African banks FNB and Nedbank hold contests on its Facebook page where criticism and appreciation are responded to. In a new twist to this trend, recently launched South African platform ZunguZ allows Facebook users in the region to pay each other using their bank accounts.

On Twitter, Africa’s Standard Bank has 6,683 followers and an FNB representative tweets to 6,389 followers. IDBI from India has 4,076 followers.

Social media deploys a blend of technology and social interaction for marketing campaigns, and forming customer insights. Low costs, the vast scope and reach offered by the Internet make such platforms attractive PR vehicles for the financial services sector. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are popular marketing forums for banks, though campaigns are also uploaded on YouTube. Recently, Pinterest as a marketing platform is also being talked about.

In India for instance, an efficient client interaction through Facebook is yet to come of age. However, Indian banks have made sure not to miss the web 2.0 buzz. Banks such as a South Indian Bank, IDBI, HDFC, Indian Bank, ICICI among others have registered official Facebook pages. However, a quick visit reveals that most conversations by users on these pages are not bank or business related. To that extent, experts note that much remains to be done for Indian banks to make the most of Facebook as a customer centric marketing platform.

One of the criticisms about social media’s utility in bank campaigns concern the original nature of these websites as tools for leisure talk and making friends. Questions were raised about whether users would log into their Facebook or Twitter accounts to discuss banks. Another fret- point was the scope of influencers on social media: just as positive testimony on a website would have multi fold persuasive power compared to traditional marketing methods, an irate or unhappy client could just as easily, hurt a bank’s brand equity and positioning. Accountability and security issues related to such media are other challenges that banks face.

Though the effectiveness of social media as a marketing platform for banks is a topic much in debate, the banking industry across the globe has joined the bandwagon and opened accounts on social media platforms. Web 2.0 has by now, become a standard in the communication and marketing strategy for financial institutions.

Facebook’s great for a lot of things. Keeping up to date with friends, promoting your brand, and organising your social diary are just some of the things you can do on the world’s social network. But what if you need to pay someone you know on Facebook?

Surely you’d have to at least have their banking or PayPal details right? That might have been true in the past, but a company called ZunguZ is looking to change all that.

The company which has presences in Silicon Valley and Cape Town claims that its product allows social network users “to securely exchange money, cost-free, with fellow users”.

ZunguZ claims that the “multi-tiered platform” “integrates key role players including social networks, financial service providers and banking institutions to facilitate micro-payments”.

According to Sussman, your Facebook profile is all the identification you need and with it you can activate ZunguZ without leaving Facebook. Essentially, he says, you are “given a Facebook bank account”.

The platform was recently released to the public in the form of a soft launch that allowed closed beta users to invite other users and is now in full release mode.

Tech entrepreneurs Robert Sussman and Lance Fanaroff are the men charged with rolling out ZunguZ in South Africa.

Although the initial interest around ZunguZ came from the US and South Africa, it has reportedly been getting more global attention of late.

There has been “a flood of interest coming from Australia, Canada, China, Nigeria and USA,” says Sussman.

Sussman also claims that “ZunguZ is the first platform that allows a Facebook user to pay another Facebook user (with no requirement for a user to have a bank account or email address)”. He adds that it does not, however, “compete with the likes of PayPal”.

Neither ZunguZ nor Facebook, however, can access your money he says. “This is all handled by the banks, together with their standard level of banking security, regulation and compliance”.

The company claims to be big on security and therefore makes use of “Thawte certification, SSL, HTTPS and second factor authentication “

According to Sussman, ZunguZ has the potential to influence the purchasing decisions of over 850-million users across the world.

He claims that ZunguZ is “intercepting the ‘un-banked’ and ‘low banked’ population at the point of purchase. We have been overwhelmed with requests from some of the largest and most prominent banks in the world, to leverage our platform to deliver their services”.

ZunguZ reckons the time is right for a “global, secure initiative that combines the banking fraternity with social networks” – something it says was identified by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people — and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time,” said Zuckerberg.