MasterCard, Standard test new smart payment system
The system, called PayPass, will be piloted among employees at Standard Bank’s head office in Johannesburg before it is rolled out to all the bank’s MasterCard customers.
It will be used where customers have to queue to make small payments, such as public transport, concerts, sports events, toll roads and drive-through fast-food outlets. It is expected to reduce payment time when the Soccer World Cup comes to SA in 2010.
The technology uses smart cards embedded with microchips and antennae, which allow payments to be made by tapping cards on a PayPass-enabled terminal.
It is based on global Europay, MasterCard and Visa standards, which means that the technology will be interoperable with the new chip cards being introduced by banks.
MasterCard senior vice-president and GM for Africa Eddie Grobler said PayPass was a first for Africa. "It’s a simpler way to pay; even simpler than cash," Grobler said. "We believe this is the ideal solution in the low-payment environment."
Standard Bank director of strategic initiatives & operations Mike Olsen said PayPass could be used on Gautrain once it was up and running. "With 2010 and Gautrain, we need to deal with our queues a bit differently," Olsen said.
MasterCard said the maximum limit on PayPass transactions globally was set at $25, but during the pilot phase in SA it had been set at R50.
Purchases above that limit would require a customer’s card to be swiped or would need a pin code under the new smart card technology. Transaction charges had yet to be determined, MasterCard said.
Credit card company Visa said it would pilot its contactless smart cards in SA within the next two months. Customers in the US, Russia and the Far East were already using contactless payment systems.
"We’re working with the banks to work out where it best fits from a business perspective in SA," said Nick Essame, head of new technologies for Visa sub-Saharan Africa.
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