In 2022, small business owners are expecting automation and accuracy from the fintech companies who provide their payment solutions. It’s no longer a perk – it’s a necessity for any fintech worth their salt. Durban-born iKhokha is doing exactly that with their new automated dynamic tariffing fee structure.

As running a business becomes more expensive, it’s always a relief when day-to-day costs go down. Additionally, as running a business becomes more complicated, it’s an even bigger relief when one thing gets taken off your to-do list.

When both of those things happen at once due to finely tuned automatic processes, it’s something worth knowing about.

Beating small business growing pains

Growing a business is hard — whether it’s keeping on top of inventory, paying suppliers and rent, or dealing with expensive surprise costs. Fortunately, we live in a time where digital tools are abundant. Especially ones that help you manage your business and your money.

Amid it all, there’s something else standing in the way of small businesses fully embracing the digital way of selling: high transaction rates. These are the fees you pay every time somebody pays you using their debit or credit card.

In some cases, business owners have preferred to keep their sales in cash to avoid losing money to high transaction rates. With the wrong card machine and payment scheme, it’s easy to get caught in a cycle of paying more for selling more.

But avoiding card payments isn’t the right move. We live in an increasingly cashless environment and business owners need to keep up with customers’ preferred payment methods. So, what’s a business owner to do?

The developers at iKhokha have been working to make business easier for small South African businesses. Through a combination of automation, monthly reviews and a new dynamic fee structure, iKhokha has found a way to put the power back in the hands of its merchants.

Dynamic tariffing

Dynamic tariffing saves merchants both time and money. The concept is simple, yet effective: the more you sell, the less you pay.

The recent upgrade to iKhokha’s transaction processes means that customers don’t need to take time out of their day to enquire about a lower rate. Instead, iKhokha will review a business’s transactions and automatically lower their rates if they’ve met the volume requirements for a lower rate bracket.

It’s fast, it’s automated and it’s exactly the way your card machine provider should operate.

The best part is that once your rates have been lowered, they can never go back up. So, regardless of whether you had a great month followed by a not-so-great month, your transaction rate will remain in the lower bracket. This is rooted in the iKhokha ethos of helping small businesses rise and being there for them, through the good and the bad.

Plus, there’s more than one way to push all your sales through iKhokha to lower your rates. You can use its mobile and 4G card machines and its recently launched online payment gateway to boost your transaction volumes.

Learn more about taking your business online in this article: Grow your online business with the iKhokha Payment Gateway

How it works

iKhokha will keep an eye on merchants’ transaction volumes and will conduct a formal review each month. From there, clients will receive an automated mailer that lets them know how they’ve done, what their numbers are, and that they’ve been bumped into a lower transaction rate volume.

When you’re an iKhokha merchant, apart from making sure your sales are doing well, you hardly need to lift a finger to access lower rates.

The standard transaction rate at iKhokha is 2.75% (excluding VAT), which is already low compared to other financial institutions. However, as your business gains more traction, you’ll drop into a lower transaction rate bracket.

Find out exactly how you pay less for selling more by using the iKhokha Fees Calculator.

Custom rates are available for merchants who trade R100 000 in a single month. This is the only time you’ll need to call in and negotiate a rate suited to your business.

If you’re a small business owner looking for the lowest transaction rates in South Africa, visit www.ikhokha.com to find the best card machine for your business.