Rwandans and the private sector should embrace cashless culture because it creates new ICT-based and related jobs, Pascal Nyagahene, the MobiCash Rwanda chief, has said.

He said that as more firms come up to support government’s push for cashless payments, new jobs are created, especially points of sale (POS) and services centres, where people file tax returns or pay for goods and services. There are no figures on the number of jobs created by such services.

Nyagahene encouraged Rwandans to embrace e-payment platforms, saying they are secure and ease payments for services or taxes, providing greater convenience.

He added that electronic settlement of business transactions is particularly beneficial for people in rural areas, saying they will no longer have to walk long distances to pay for government or other services.

He was speaking at the signing of a partnership deal with Rwanda Telecentre Network (RTN) on Wednesday in Kigali.

Under the deal, RTN clients will pay Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) taxes, school fees, and value-added services, like buying MTN, Tigo or Airtel airtime, electricity bills and pay-TV subscription fees using the MobiCash platform.

Paul Barera, the executive director of RTN, said the partnership will help reduce the ‘delivery gap’ for government-to-citizens; and business-to-customer service, while promoting entrepreneurship and job-creation in ICT sector”. "Customers will now be able to collect non-fiscal revenues through the MobiCash platform, and it will also facilitate online payments for Irembo services by citizens,” he said.

MobiCash has over 1,500 agents countrywide, including all the 416 Umurenge SACCOs, while RTN has 500 access points, 300 of which facilitate access to Irembo services.