The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A digital payments provider is expanding its brand into the wedding business by partnering to provide a payment solution for micro-wedding promotion.

Jevon Butler, Kanoo’s chief sales officer, speaking at a press conference, said: “The Bahamas Bridal Association has done a wonderful thing with this wedding of your dreams.

“During this pandemic, a lot of individuals have lost faith and hope and have lost love and we are excited to partner with the association as they are re-engaging and re-invigorating Bahamians to come together with that loved one and decide to take that leap of faith.”

The BBA has launched its “eight wedding giveaways” where they will be giving four local couples and four international couples a chance to win a micro-wedding if they enter into a contest on BBA’s website. The value of a micro-wedding can go up to $5,000. The only stipulation is the couples must be planning to have a wedding in 2022.

Where Kanoo comes in is that the payment provider will be facilitating the entrance fee to the BBA’s contest by offering a payment gateway where the BBA will be able to accept payments from local and international couples looking to enter.

Mr Butler said: “What we’re finding with Kanoo is that a lot of individuals initially would have used the PayPal mechanism and we know PayPal is an American based entity that requires that you need to have a social security number or have an American address or have a bank account.

“So those individuals who are collecting funds in $US, they’re having a difficult time repatriating them back to The Bahamas and even if they are able to, they’re losing on the foreign exchange. I’ve heard of clients that have lost up to 18 percent of the value of the funds being sent back.

“So here at Kanoo, we’re saying to use a local payment gateway for API integration and you’re able just to process tour payment, your clients can either do it as a new account holder, or they can do it as a guest checkout.

All of this allows for e-commerce platforms and associations like the BBA to collect funds in a timely fashion and have it sent to their bank account.

The only thing is that people need to have a commercial bank account in order to convert their digital currency back to fiat currency, Mr Butler advised and the plan is that the Bahamian digital currency, the Sand Dollar, will takeoff and Kanoo will be well positioned to capitlise on this transition. “For now, you can just keep those funds in your mobile wallet and transact wherever you see fit,” he added.