Top fintech player enters tap-to-phone market: what it means for small businesses

South African fintech the pioneer iKhokha has launched its offering in the tap-to-phone market. The move comes amid a period of economic hardship in the country and a need for innovation to stimulate growth in small businesses.

The South African fintech space has matured well in recent years, despite a faltering economy. Issues such as unemployment have made fintech companies more important as their technology can stimulate growth in the key SME sector.

Products such as card machines and other digital payment platforms have seen a surge in both demand and innovation, as ordinary citizens explore more ways to make money in a digitizing economy.

Thanks to iKhokha’s latest offering, iK Tap on Phone, small business owners can look forward to accepting payments for their products or services using their Android smartphones.

A global payment processor recently completed a year-long pilot of tap-to-phone technology in various emerging economies. The company cited the rise of contactless payments in the post-Covid landscape as a major factor that led to the robust testing phase.

Contactless payments, otherwise known as “tap & go”, are card transactions that use near field communication (NFC) to exchange information between devices that are close to each other.

The method uses magnetic signals for the secure exchange of data. In recent years, NFC-enabled devices have taken over the payments space, with major banks worldwide rolling out the technology on debit cards and speed-point machines.

Preferred method of payment

While initially introduced to increase convenience for customers, contactless payments reached a new level of public awareness amid the coronavirus pandemic. For consumers worldwide, the method became the preferred method of payment, largely due to its contactless features that made it possible to pay without holding a card machine.

Tap & go technology has since been adopted across the Internet of Things (IoT) landscape. Smartphones are the latest in a growing list of devices that can be used to either pay or get paid for goods and services.

Several local fintech companies have welcomed the introduction of NFC technology. Despite South Africa lagging behind the developed world in terms of 4IR infrastructure, the local market has seen decent uptake in digital devices, making advances such as handsets sustainable and scalable.

Learn more at www.ikhoka.co.za

There are various push-to-phone offerings on the market today, with companies in this competitive space always eager to launch new products to help their small business customer base. Major players like iKhokha have started offering tap-to-phone technology to their customers for free.

The company recently launched iK Tap on Phone on the iKhokha app. The NFC-powered product looks to merge iKhokha’s trademark low prices with ease of use for local entrepreneurs. The handset market entry was developed in South Africa, giving it a solid understanding of the pain points and aspirations of local business people.

iK Tap on Phone allows South Africa’s business owners to process card payments in real-time on their smartphones with just a tap on an enabled NFC-enabled device. This smart feature on the free iKhokha app can help small businesses and aspiring solopreneurs increase their revenue and profit margins.

The offer allows business owners and side-hustlers to accept card payments without the upfront cost of buying a card machine. In the long run, this can lead to the democratization of small businesses, with more people having the courage to start a business.

Given South Africa’s recent economic woes, from high fuel prices to record unemployment, products like the iK Tap on Phone lower the barrier to entry into the informal economy for citizens who want to take initiative.

More established businesses such as shops and restaurants can also benefit from touch-to-phone technology. Portability, especially for deliveries, is a key element of the tap-to-phone experience, while it can also be used as an additional payment gateway to make queues move faster, or when a power outage occurs.

Another encouraging factor involves current trends around smartphone use. Tap-to-phone technology will give ordinary people the chance to turn their smartphone usage into something positive that can change their lives and help others as well.

Early adopters often gain first-mover advantage. If you want to stay ahead of the competition and surprise your customers with something new, try iK Tap on Phone on the free iKhokha app.

Learn more at www.ikhoka.co.za.

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