For years, Huawei users in South Africa have been left out of the contactless payment boom. Without Google Services, their phones couldn’t use Google Pay, and most mobile wallets simply didn’t work. Now FNB has added Swoo Pay as a contactless option for Huawei and Android users, finally closing that frustrating gap.
It’s a small update with big implications. Huawei’s absence from Google’s ecosystem has long been a pain point for South Africans who like the brand’s hardware but want the same digital payment ease as Samsung or Apple users. This move not only solves that, but also shows FNB’s knack for finding workarounds where global tech doesn’t bother to.
Catching up with tap-to-pay
The new setup lets Huawei customers with NFC-enabled devices link their FNB Virtual or Physical Cards to the Swoo Pay app and simply tap to pay at any contactless terminal. It’s seamless, secure, and long overdue.
“Making contactless payments more accessible to Huawei users has been a long time coming,” said Senzo Nsibande, FNB’s CEO of Card. “We’ve focused on giving customers choice and greater access to secure digital payments.”
And the appetite is there. FNB says its digital wallets have now processed more than R200 billion in retail spend, with 58 percent of those purchases made using its Virtual Card. Digital wallet transactions are up over 40 percent year-on-year, showing just how quickly South Africans have embraced tap-to-pay convenience.
Huawei’s long road back
It’s worth remembering why this even matters. When the US trade ban cut Huawei off from Google’s Android services, its phones became outliers. In South Africa, that meant no Google Pay and limited options for everyday payments. Swoo Pay changes that — not by restoring Google’s tech, but by skirting around it.
That workaround says a lot about how FNB approaches digital banking. Rather than waiting for global platforms to play nice, the bank keeps expanding its own ecosystem. Its modernised card platform already uses tokenisation, dynamic CVVs, and 3D Secure to lock down virtual card transactions. Adding Swoo Pay just opens another lane for customers who’ve been boxed out.
A partnership with perks
Beyond the functionality, there’s an incentive twist. Swoo Pay comes with its Tokenback loyalty programme, which can return up to 90 percent of a purchase’s value as digital tokens. It’s not cash, but it fits right into South Africa’s love affair with reward ecosystems like eBucks.
“We’re making financial technology accessible to everyone, regardless of device,” said Kirill Gorynya, Swoo’s CEO. “Together with FNB, we’re creating a more inclusive digital payment future.”