Asset and resource management firm Acumen Software has acquired 25% of commerce platform provider Kinektek and plans to integrate Kinektek into My Smart City, as it accelerates the rollout of the service delivery management platform.
With the investment in Kinektek, Acumen will bolster public service offerings to users of My Smart City with value-added services, which include buying lotto tickets, airtime, data bundles and electricity, as well as an option to pay municipal accounts.
Kinektek is a black-owned financial technology business with a cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platform, which provides self-service terminals in various business outlets and mobile point of sales devices that serve customers on the move or over the counter. Kinektek’s products will further enhance the My Smart City services, Acumen says.
"Kinektek is the perfect complementary technology for the My Smart City platform. It allows the two platforms to seamlessly integrate and offer customers a range of services with easy and secure payment options. Our vision is for smart cities to bridge the digital divide and improve service delivery from the private and public sector,” says Acumen CEO Joao Zoio.
The introduction of Kinektek's suite of Biome, Online Retail Content Access and point of sales device solutions scales up the digital sales capability of businesses, he adds.
​Biome is a pre-certified omnichannel commerce platform for processing digital sales and service transactions. The Kinektek distribution platform will assist retailers in delivering convenience and value through unified omnichannel retail automation, reducing operating costs and complexity.
Kinektek's Online Retail Content Access is a complete value-added service platform. It assists retailers in growing their customer base by providing lifetime value with a complete value-added service delivery solution at a zero fixed cost. The company will also supply specifically designed devices to optimise functionality.
Omnichannel retailing has become the gold standard for success in the retail environment, which provides a seamless, continuous customer experience across any device or location.
My Smart City has integrated this bouquet of capabilities using the Kinektek platform. My Smart City is currently available in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Steve Tshwete and eThekwini, with plans to roll out to other municipal areas this year, says Zoio.