Pesh simplifying payments for friends, family

THE Pesh Money mobile app launched on Tuesday at Fintech Avenue, Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain, with the goal of simplifying mobile payments between friends and family.

However, when asked how people would make use of the app and whether micro businesses such as doubles vendors or people selling goods among friends and family would be able to use it for their transactions, Pesh Money founder Simon Fortune said while the focus of the app is to simplify person-to-person mobile payments, he will have to see how the end-user makes use of the cashless payment tool.

“Ideally, the app is person-to-person but, once the app is in their hands, then we would really know how people want to use it,” he said. “Then we will have to adjust to ensure that we will support them. So if we see people using it in different ways, then we would have to make sure that we are in line with that and we are not breaking any of our policies.

“The app is a tool to send cash. I can’t fully tell you exactly what to do with your cash, but ideally what we are building this for is for friends and family.”

Pesh Money Ltd achieved full E-Money Issuer registration with the Central Bank on September 1.

It adheres to the E-Money Issuer Order (2020) and is specifically tailored for mid-value transactions.

Fortune said its policies allow for a balance between reporting to regulators and maintaining customers’ privacy.

“The way that we approach that is with a policy of minimum access,” he said. “So if you are providing support to a customer you only see the information you need to see. We have controls in place for designated people to follow the AML(anti-money laundering) process. But we don’t have any policy to mind people’s business.”

Fortune said there were several mechanisms in place to protect customers’ information and monitor for scams, which includes policies for reporting in the event of an attack and several layers of protection against cyber attacks and malware attacks.

“We wouldn’t be here if the system wasn’t safe and secure. Thanks to the diligent work of the Central Bank, they made sure the application was safe and that we were following all of the guidelines and principles.

“We built the application from the ground up to make sure the customer data was safe, encrypted and to ensure that all our polices that we follow align with data privacy and retention.”

In his presentation, he said the app also monitors and warns customers of potential spamming and would shut it down.

Pesh Money Ltd was founded in 2017 as a fintech company. The app caters to anyone over the age of 18 with a TT bank account.

The app will cover payments of up to $1,000. The wallet can hold up to TT$20,000 and is limited to TT currency.

The app does not support international wires, currency or transactions.