Sisilia Seavula is DUAPAY Ambassador

Former Fijian Olympic sprinter, Sisilia Seavula, has championed financial inclusion in the Pacific Islands through her collaboration with Mastercard on its latest initiative, DUAPAY.

As the first of its kind in the Pacific Islands, DUAPAY allows business owners to accept digital payments using their smartphones.

This innovation is vital in regions reliant on tourism, where businesses often miss out on sales due to tourists not carrying local currency.

Ms Seavula, a former student of St Joseph’s Secondary School in Suva, is the brand ambassador for DUAPAY, a Mastercard initiative.

As a female small business owner, she partnered with Mastercard to share the benefits of DUAPAY, which helped women-led small businesses in Fiji take charge of their finances and supercharge their growth.

DUAPAY is now available to small business owners who have been banking with Westpac in Fiji for the past 12 months, with increased eligibility anticipated in the coming months.

History

DUAPAY was piloted in 2022 with a small group of Fijian women entrepreneurs trading at the Suva and Nadi markets.

The business owners would be able to accept card and digital payments on their mobile devices.

“The Pacific region is an evolving market, primarily characterised by an untapped potential among underbanked and marginalised consumers,” said Fintech Pacific chief operations officer Joana Kabakoro-Smith.

“In response, our mission was to extend our reach to women entrepreneurs in Fiji, with the aim of enhancing their financial capacity.

“We are confident that this initiative will revolutionise the landscape of e-business for women in Fiji.”

Talei Goater, Pacific Islands regional manager, ygap said the locally led, holistic and innovative partnership champions inclusion for women vendors who traditionally face more barriers in business.

“We’ve provided workshops and scenarios with this pilot group of women so that they are ready and equipped to use DUAPAY,” she said.

Australian High Commission Counsellor Andrew Shepherd said the payment platform would help women to save and grow their operations, and long term, the initiative had the potential to create an impact for all informal market vendors in Fiji.

“DUAPAY will also increase financial literacy and provide more opportunities to grow business, assets and status,” Mr Shepherd said.

Source: One Plus One Group / Mastercard