Huawei Pay is coming to South Africa
Huawei owners who have envied the ability to tap and pay with their smartphone will not have to wait much longer for their own mobile payment app.
Speaking in an interview with MyBroadband at the South African launch of the Mate 20 Pro, Huawei South Africa chief technical officer Akhram Mohamed confirmed that Huawei Pay would be released in South Africa.
Huawei Pay is a mobile payment platform similar to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which enables users to tap and pay using their smartphone instead of using their bank card.
These apps are compatible with card payment terminals and are secured by strong cryptography and biometric authentication.
Huawei Pay in South Africa
Mohamed elaborated on Huawei’s plans to roll out the mobile payment app in South Africa, stating that it was definitely coming but would take some time to release.
“There are regulatory processes we need to go through for something like this – you have to have the key partners in terms of financial institutions,” Mohamed said.
“But also what is critical for us is that, if you look at Europe or China for example, Huawei Pay is already in effect. The capability and the application is there.”
He noted that international implementations cannot just be carried over, however, due to regulation requirements and the need to partner with local financial institutions.
“We have to customise a solution and ensure we meet all the regulatory requirements locally, and we are still looking into the PoPI Act and other regulations.”
Mohamed said the payment app was in the pipeline for some time soon, however, as the company is already working with partners and regulatory bodies to move the process along.
“All I can say is we expect it to launch early next year,” he added.
What to expect
Like Samsung’s mobile payment system, Huawei Pay will leverage NFC technology to make payments on compatible POS terminals.
While Samsung Pay also offers payment via magnetic secure transmission (MST) when paying using terminals without NFC technology, it is currently unknown what other technologies Huawei Pay will include.
“[Huawei Pay] will have integration with QR codes and a few other mechanisms that we are working on,” Mohamed said.
He added that the need to partner with financial institutions may limit some aspects of the application compared to other markets.
“At the current moment, we do not want to be seen as a competitor to payment platforms provided by financial institutions.”
“One thing is for certain, however,” Mohamed said. “When it does launch, it will be either as good or better than the offerings from industry that are currently available.”
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