Net1 wants to convince at least 5-million social grant recipients to use its other financial services products by the end of 2019, says CEO Herman Kotze. The New York-and Johannesburg-listed company said on Friday it was "looking forward to being released" from its social grants contract in September. Kotze said while Net1 had initially submitted a bid for the South African Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) tender for the payment of grants at pay points for five years from September, the tender process had been placed on ice and the company would consider pulling its bid. "We do not know when or if the tender process will resume, but we are unlikely to continue with our participation if there are reputational, legal or financial risks that may result in a repeat of the events we’ve had to endure over the past six years." The end of its social grants contract would allow Net1 to focus on its "financial inclusion" products, including transactional services, credit facilities, insurance...

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