Smartphone payment apps battle it out in SA

[Kevin Lancaster]

Big South African smartphone app battle

Four smartphone payment apps enter the ring, how many can make it out?

 

[JStrike]

Well done Cape Town startups! SnapScan and Flickpay in particular. I can't think of somewhere that I have shopped recently that doesn't accept SnapScan or FlickPay. Disruption at it's finest

So, the missing thing on that list....where is FNB's iPhone card reader? ABSA and the rest are there. Not like FNB to be trailing this much

 

[Fingolfin]

Never mind which smartphone payment app makes it out...which Humans will make it out?

 

[berrypi]

sometimes they make it way waaayyy too complicated

 

[Tahir Ally]

98% of Android apps are compatible with the BlackBerry10 operating system.
These apps work on any BlackBerry10 smartphone.

#BBFactCheck

 

[Jan]

98% of Android apps are compatible with the BlackBerry10 operating system.
These apps work on any BlackBerry10 smartphone.

#BBFactCheck

That may be, but the bottom-line is that app creators themselves don't officially support the platform or list BB10 as a supported platform.

 

[recre8]

Well done Cape Town startups! SnapScan and Flickpay in particular. I can't think of somewhere that I have shopped recently that doesn't accept SnapScan or FlickPay. Disruption at it's finest

So, the missing thing on that list....where is FNB's iPhone card reader? ABSA and the rest are there. Not like FNB to be trailing this much

Yep congrats Cape Town. Still struggling to find a place that accepts snapscan tho.

 

[Messugga]

Find SnapScan tedious to use. It's easier for me to simply pay with my card than take out my phone, open the app, scan the barcode, enter the amount, type in my pin, wait for the transaction to actually go through due to shoddy mobile network coverage even though I get LTE where I am, show the person at the till that the transaction went through and hope that they don't mess up somehow.

Give me NFC to tap so that my phone can communicate everything back and forth and do the payment, maybe with a pin. Anything more, a card is more convenient without the risk of a thirdparty sitting in between, processing my information.

 

[JStrike]

Yep congrats Cape Town. Still struggling to find a place that accepts snapscan tho.

What do you mean? Literally everywhere I go, from coffee shops to butchers, accept SnapScan

 

[JStrike]

Find SnapScan tedious to use. It's easier for me to simply pay with my card than take out my phone, open the app, scan the barcode, enter the amount, type in my pin, wait for the transaction to actually go through due to shoddy mobile network coverage even though I get LTE where I am, show the person at the till that the transaction went through and hope that they don't mess up somehow.

Give me NFC to tap so that my phone can communicate everything back and forth and do the payment, maybe with a pin. Anything more, a card is more convenient without the risk of a thirdparty sitting in between, processing my information.

NFC died a long time ago...

 

[Jan]

Yep congrats Cape Town. Still struggling to find a place that accepts snapscan tho.

There's a merchant finder in the app, but if you're outside the Western Cape or Gauteng then I don't expect you to find anyone.

 

[Messugga]

NFC died a long time ago...

I don't think it ever really lived to be honest. With that being said, one of my clients issue their employees with credit cards with NFC embedded. You simply tap the card reader and you're done with your canteen payment.

Paying via a phone is stupidly cumbersome currently.

 

[Jan]

Find SnapScan tedious to use. It's easier for me to simply pay with my card than take out my phone, open the app, scan the barcode, enter the amount, type in my pin, wait for the transaction to actually go through due to shoddy mobile network coverage even though I get LTE where I am, show the person at the till that the transaction went through and hope that they don't mess up somehow.

Give me NFC to tap so that my phone can communicate everything back and forth and do the payment, maybe with a pin. Anything more, a card is more convenient without the risk of a thirdparty sitting in between, processing my information.

NFC died a long time ago...

To me it's less about trying to supplant the credit card, and more about letting merchants accept card payments when they couldn't before.

That said, there are shops (like restaurants) who already had card machines that are also adopting SnapScan because they give cheaper rates than the normal credit card machine. So even if it is a bit more effort, you can pay with SnapScan if you're feeling nice and want them to keep a little bit more of the take.

 

[Messugga]

To me it's less about trying to supplant the credit card, and more about letting merchants accept card payments when they couldn't before.

Good point - something I didn't consider. I'm yet to see someone without a card machine using SnapScan but it's still early days.

 

[Jan]

Good point - something I didn't consider. I'm yet to see someone without a card machine using SnapScan but it's still early days.

I went to the Reader's Den Free Comic Book Day celebrations and there were a bunch of artists registered for SnapScan there that didn't have business banking accounts or access to card machines. MTN coverage was pretty bad too, but despite that it was possible to support all of them without carrying around a large wad of cash.

Seeing it in action there is what sold me on the concept.

 

[Biscuit1018]

Find SnapScan tedious to use. It's easier for me to simply pay with my card than take out my phone, open the app, scan the barcode, enter the amount, type in my pin, wait for the transaction to actually go through due to shoddy mobile network coverage even though I get LTE where I am, show the person at the till that the transaction went through and hope that they don't mess up somehow.

Give me NFC to tap so that my phone can communicate everything back and forth and do the payment, maybe with a pin. Anything more, a card is more convenient without the risk of a thirdparty sitting in between, processing my information.

I dont love Snapscan but it does the job... sort of..

NFC? Where can one use a phone to tap and pay?
NFC looks dead in the water in SA anyway.

Just got back from the UK and US and noticed that the QR Code based systems are pervasive.
Many are vendor systems (like Starbucks) that identify the buyer and take it off your prepaid wallet or debits the credit card.
I saw plenty of NFC terminals and I saw a few people tapping cards.
I didnt see anyone tap phones.

Of course the US is just moving to chip in pin

 

[Biscuit1018]

There is another bonus if they can combine loyalty cards and payment...
eg you get a free coffee after you have bought 15 coffees

Not sure many have done that

 

[JStrike]

I don't think it ever really lived to be honest. With that being said, one of my clients issue their employees with credit cards with NFC embedded. You simply tap the card reader and you're done with your canteen payment.

Paying via a phone is stupidly cumbersome currently.

NFC has been "The Next Big Thing" for over a decade now. Luckily that talk died down

 

[JStrike]

To me it's less about trying to supplant the credit card, and more about letting merchants accept card payments when they couldn't before.

That said, there are shops (like restaurants) who already had card machines that are also adopting SnapScan because they give cheaper rates than the normal credit card machine. So even if it is a bit more effort, you can pay with SnapScan if you're feeling nice and want them to keep a little bit more of the take.

Exactly this. It is disrupting the merchant services by targeting people that couldn't easily or cheaply take credit card payments

 

[Messugga]

There is another bonus if they can combine loyalty cards and payment...
eg you get a free coffee after you have bought 15 coffees

Not sure many have done that

Seattle Coffee uses your phone number. Personally, I'm not keen on just handing that out. An app to scan a bar code or something and increment a counter on a db would be much preferred.