–to empower small, medium-size businesses to be a part of e-commerce

THE age of long lines and hours of waiting is slowly coming to an end, especially with the advent of Electronic Commerce (E-commerce) and online shopping which allow persons to shop from the comfort of their homes once they have resources like WiPay.

WiPay is an online payment system that is geared at changing the local business landscape in order to afford small and medium-scale businesses a chance to play a role in the e-commerce industry, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of WiPay Guyana and Consultant of WiPay Regional, Wystan Robertson.

Robertson, who was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), believes that WiPay provides a way to democratise the business opportunities for all businesses, especially the small ones that are not able to access the internet to be a part of e-commerce.

WiPay is an e-commerce payment gateway that allows anyone who has a website and e-retail store to conduct a transaction.
Robertson said persons could conduct online transactions through WiPay using VISA and Master Card or any internally recognised credit card.

Prior to the advent of the payment gateway, persons would have to setup a merchant account with the bank in order to conduct an online transaction. Most persons were reluctant to do so because the cost attached to it was high, said Robertson.

Businesses around the world have been modernising their operations by utilising the internet to conduct transactions, sell their goods and even offer a service.
“Persons have been transforming their businesses using the internet, technology and e-commerce…what we have started to look at are ways to come up with applications that allow users to transact commerce and make purchases,” he said, adding that the internet makes the market for any business a huge space.

With WiPay, local businesses will be able to have access to almost two million Guyanese who live in the diaspora and other individuals who might have an interest in your goods or service, Robertson explained.

The company has already started its operations in Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Jamaica and Barbados, among other countries. According to the CEO, their intention is to develop the PayPal of the Caribbean.

It is also a platform that will enable countries in the English-speaking Caribbean to be less reliant on the United States of America (USA) currency to conduct transactions.
WiPay will allow persons to use local currency to conduct transactions instead of using US currency or a credit card.

Companies have already responded well to the initiative, said Robertson, noting that Massy Stores in Trinidad are already on board and they have even created a fast check out process. In addition, Caribbean Airlines allows persons to use WiPay to book their tickets.
“We are ready to go into Guyana as well… we already spoke with the Bank of Guyana and they gave us a positive feedback…we are quite pleased with the feedback but we are just awaiting the yes from the relevant people,” said Roberston.

Asked how secure the system is, he said it is Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) compliant.
“We facilitate the movement of information between the e-commerce platform and the merchant…the back end providers are the ones who do the secure transaction,” he explained.

The CEO hopes that Guyanese, especially businesses will see the benefits of the payment system and utilise it to make online financial transactions easier.