iKhokha, one of South Africa’s fastest-growing fintechs, and Mastercard recently announced the completion of a project that resulted in a new case study on contactless payments in the local market.

The case study, which you can download here, delves into the extensive research conducted by iKhokha and Mastercard to analyse the impact and potential of contactless payments. According to the report, South Africa has one of Africa’s fastest-growing contactless card penetration rates, with 25.8 million contactless cards, making up 62% of all cards issued cards in the market.

However, the challenge isn’t in consumers reaching for contactless cards, but rather in card acceptance. While businesses have embraced digital payments, many still operate on a cash basis as card machine rentals or upfront investments prevent them from going digital.

Against this backdrop, the case study highlights the early success of iKhokha’s iK Tap on Phone. This revolutionary product removes the traditional cost of entry into the digital ecosystem by enabling businesses to accept card payments on an Android smartphone.

Taking advantage of South Africa’s 91% smartphone penetration rate, iK Tap on Phone allows entrepreneurs and small business owners to transform their Android smartphones into powerful, secure point-of-sale terminals.

This innovative solution leverages near-field communication technology, enabling customers to make secure contactless payments by simply tapping their cards against a merchant’s Android smartphone.

Highly attractive

Businesses no longer have to invest in expensive hardware or pay monthly rental fees to banks.

iK Tap on Phone is available on the free iKhokha app, making it a highly attractive and affordable option for small businesses and informal traders, who are often excluded from the digital economy.

Furthermore, iKhokha aims to distribute over R1-billion in working capital in 2023 through its iK Cash Advance product. By trading with iK Tap on Phone for three months, merchants can qualify for a custom cash advance and access funds to grow their businesses.