Using your smartphone to pay the way

DJ... said:
SnapScan will soon be developing their systems to make online payments easier. For now it's not recommended for online merchants as there is no way for one to use a custom payment reference, so the merchant cannot reconcile back on their end and there will be a complete finance and admin nightmare after the fact.

I wanted to integrate this into my site's payment methods as the merchant fees are very reasonable, but this limitation makes it impossible to do so. Fortunately they are aware of this and part of their planned development involves online merchant facilities too...
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Good point.

I am till going to offer it, but aimed at walk-in customers. I often get asked if I take card and this will make it easier for them (if they have the app of course).
If Std Bank enable some sort of linked payment gateway then big bonus. Will really help.
 
Mike Smit said:
Good point.

I am till going to offer it, but aimed at walk-in customers. I often get asked if I take card and this will make it easier for them (if they have the app of course).
If Std Bank enable some sort of linked payment gateway then big bonus. Will really help.
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Standard Bank will not get into the payment gateway business. I've spoken to their execs on the merchant side about this before. The whole gateway and merchant account business for online transactions in SA is atrocious to be honest. The gateways are slack and offer a very minimal set of rather expensive products and the merchant accounts offer you....nothing...quite simply...nothing.

There needs to be some actual progression in this market, and SnapScan is one aspect that if it takes off could be a game-changer. No more digging around for your wallet and glasses and fiddling with numbers and codes and OTPs - just scan, use a reference, and pay. Done. Online transaction simplified. There needs to be a better system than single-number notification though, although I suppose one could dedicate a single number to these transactions for online payments. But they need to sort that bit out. There should be an instant notification portal that one can log in to or stay logged in to at all times...
 
Here's what SnapScan need to do to make this better for online merchants:

1) recurring billing option - eliminate debit orders and put the customer in control of recurring payments. Such an elegant solution, and great for merchants, even if control is lost to an extent. If a merchant wants more control, he/she can force the debit order side but I prefer letting the customer retain control over their recurring billing.
2) Instant notification portal rather than SMS-based notifications
3) custom payment reference that can be saved for each beneficiary
4) integration with accounting software to create custom QR codes per customer for auto-reconciliation upon payment
5) standardised payment reference rules for statement recons if not already linked to accounting software and custom QR codes
6) online payment portal for non-QR code payments - as a backup so they secure revenue rather than lose it to payment gateways
7) allow for the linking of debit cards to the payment system

Then I'd be happy. Keep rates at a flat 3% and this system will be fantastic for online payment processing...
 
DJ... said:
Then I'd be happy. Keep rates at a flat 3% and this system will be fantastic for online payment processing...
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That's the part I never quite understood. Why does every 3rd party want to rip us off? Does it cost them more for a larger transaction? 3% is 30% of your profit margin if your markup is only 10%. Why not just charge a flat fee like R1 per transaction as Capitec does with their supermarket withdrawels?
 
Swa said:
That's the part I never quite understood. Why does every 3rd party want to rip us off? Does it cost them more for a larger transaction? 3% is 30% of your profit margin if your markup is only 10%. Why not just charge a flat fee like R1 per transaction as Capitec does with their supermarket withdrawels?
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When putting together a pricing model you'd typically build this in as a direct cost to establish healthy GP margins but I get what you're saying, and I agree. I had this argument with them recently - gateways charge per transaction on a fixed and a variable rate, then the merchant account charge you a percentage for the transaction as well.

3% is incredibly reasonable in this scenario. SMEs get royally fscked over by gateways and merchant accounts - you can end up paying the equivalent of up to 6% of the transaction value simply to process the payment. It's absurd.

3% is quite reasonable, especially if there is no merchant account involved...
 
Vicky S said:
Whooooah!!!!!! How safe is that?
I have the snapscan app downloaded, but am still hesitant to use it. Can anyone reassure me about the security thereof?
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As with any mobile app, if it was going to do anything malicious, it's probably already done it.

In terms of getting too used to cashless payments, beware the social, corporate and governmental pressures that lead to the requirement we carry around a registered Android tracking device in order to buy anything from anybody.

Our paper ID books are going away, eventually your paper money will go away too, and then record of every purchase one ever makes will become the property of the faceless Internet Watchers, and occasionally, the Judges.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/search.php?searchid=33316003
 
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