Landowning units and its members will now be able to receive their lease funds through another mobile wallet platform that is also anticipated to create a culture of financial discipline to improve their livelihoods and reduce poverty.
This after the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) confirmed partnering with e-wallet provider Sole Fintech as an additional mode of distributing lease monies.
This initiative by TLTB is part of its ongoing efforts to improve efficiency, accessibility and convenience in the disbursement of lease payments to beneficiaries.
The TLTB has also encouraged landowning unit members to take advantage of this digital platform to ensure faster and more secure access to their lease payments.
It had issued an expression of interest for a mobile wallet services provider in August 2024 and the tender awarded to the Sole Fintech on January 25 last year.
“We will roll out soon and, therefore, we will be able to hear from the landowners. The feedback we have already received after the announcement this morning has all been very positive,” Sole Fintech founder and chairman Semi Tukana told this newspaper in an interview yesterday.
“Sole and TLTB have completed implementation and testing of direct integration pathways allowing instant disbursement of funds directly to Sole account holders.
“Our platform sits on cloud-based infrastructure allowing us to instantly scale up resources on demand if required.”
Mr Tukana said Sole did not charge landowners a fee to transfer lease monies to the Sole account.
However, he added there was a minor fee to TLTB for the transfer – like any Sole customer, transferring funds to any bank costs $0.70 cents which also covers bank fees, but customers pay no fees when using QR Pay at merchants.
For those in maritime and remote areas subjected to connectivity issues can access the service at all Post Fiji branches, allowing deposits and withdrawals of cash at those locations.
Mr Tukana told this newspaper that apart from the app’s budgeting features, Sole also had the group feature that would allow landowning units to start group accounts, which were transparent and accessible to all members.
“Distribution can thus be done directly to these group accounts. No other platforms in Fiji has this capability at this point in time.”
He added Sole Ltd was also connected to the Fijian Holding Unit Trust, which they could directly invest their funds to FHUT.
“Sole App is more than an e wallet. It is a wallet with a budget that allows a customer 20 free buckets. Funds drop automatically to these budget buckets and can automatically make regular payments for bills, loan repayments and investments.”
