Cape Town, South Aftrica -- (SBWire) -- 04/26/2013 --PayU is a leading online payment provider in South Africa and has recently partnered with Discovery enabling them to offer Discovery Miles as a secure payment method to Discovery approved online stores.

PayU, an online payment service provider that processes over 65% of the e-commerce transaction value in South Africa, recently announced a partnership with Discovery that enables the company to offer Discovery Miles as a secure payment method to Discovery approved online stores.

Discovery Miles is one of the most popular loyalty currency programs in South Africa. However, in the past, Discovery Miles could only be redeemed for a select number of services and products. Now Discovery approved e-commerce partners can activate this payment channel via PayU, enabling Discovery Miles subscribers to spend their Miles at a host of additional online stores.

Mark Chirnside, CEO of PayU said, “We are pleased to be the payment gateway selected in South Africa to offer Discovery Miles as a secure online payment method. This demonstrates our commitment to providing new and exciting ways for merchants to reach customers online, while also ensuring that Discovery Miles subscribers have a wide selection of websites to choose from when they’re ready to spend their Miles.”

With a conversion rate of ten Discovery Miles to the Rand, Vitality members who are Discovery Mile subscribers can choose to pay the full amount of the purchase using Discovery Miles when shopping online, or make a part payment with their Miles and settle the balance with a credit card. Vitality members now have the flexibility to securely spend all or a portion of their loyalty points at numerous online stores, vastly expanding the spend opportunities of the Discovery Miles which are earned on the DiscoveryCard.

About PayU
PayU is an online and mobile payments service provider, PayU Payment Solutions (Pty) Ltd (“PayU MEA”) enables and empowers businesses and individuals in the Middle East and Africa to safely transact and easily participate in e-commerce.

It is owned by Naspers and the company’s products include a digital wallet for consumers and a PCI DSS level 1 certified payment gateway for businesses. PayU’s vision is to be the most trusted payment gateway in the region for both merchants and consumers.