Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Britehouse breaks free from NTT Data

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      The satellite broadband operators taking on Starlink

      9 July 2025

      Yaccarino out: Musk’s handpicked CEO quits X suddenly

      9 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025

      Jony Ive’s first AI gadget could be … a pen

      30 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on data governance in hybrid cloud environments

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Start-ups » Inside SnapScan, SA’s app of the year

    Inside SnapScan, SA’s app of the year

    By Craig Wilson28 August 2013
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    SnapScan-640

    Stellenbosch’s SnapScan, whose smartphone application won MTN Business’s 2013 App of the Year award this week, is betting that consumers will take to the idea of making in-store payments using their mobile phones instead of credit or debit cards.

    SnapScan falls under FireID, the company that now houses six start-up technology businesses, SnapScan being the most recently launched.

    FireID started life as an information security company specialising in “two-factor authentication” technology for mobile phones. It was funded by billionaire Johann Rupert, through Reinet. Justin Stanford, one of FireID’s co-founders, was instrumental in securing the initial capital injection. However, Stanford was unable to convince Reinet’s investment committee to continue investing and in 2011 it pulled its funding of FireID, forcing the company to lay off its 40 employees.

    Shortly thereafter, one of FireID’s co-founders, Malan Joubert, negotiated a management buyout and repositioned the company as an incubator for technology companies with its security business being spun off as FireID Security.

    To use SnapScan, consumers download the app for Apple, Android or BlackBerry, and add their credit card details by taking a picture of their card and creating a Pin. They can then use the app to scan a QR (quick response) code — a type of barcode — in a store and can make payments.

    SnapScan co-founder, 28-year-old Kobus Ehlers, says there are a number of benefits to this approach for retailers. “It takes about 30 seconds to sign up. We issue a QR code, which you print, and you’re done.”

    Merchants without bank accounts can cash out their takings at the end of the day. “Customers can pay with the app, the retailer can then get a voucher code at the end of the day that they can punch in at a Standard Bank ATM — or hand over at a Spar — and get cash.”

    If customers don’t have the app installed, scanning the QR code will take them to the relevant app store where they can download it.

    “Payment information sits securely in the app,” Ehler says. “So, your card details only have to be put into the app once and thereafter all you have to do is enter your Pin. This means we never transmit your card details to the merchant.”

    SnapScan-iPhone-280SnapScan works with debit cards and credit cards, and there are no sign-up, setup or installation fees. There is also no monthly fee payable.

    The company makes its money by charging a small transaction fee to the retailer on each purchase. This fee varies. “We take a small transaction fee, much like the acquiring component to merchant transactions,” Ehlers says. SnapScan has a partnership with Standard Bank, which means it can process transactions at “competitive rates”, he adds.

    In addition to transaction fees, SnapScan offers its customers the option of accessing analytics or running loyalty programmes, both of which are billed as add-ons.

    The company offers three products. The first is an “instant merchant product” aimed at informal retailers who want their takings in cash. The second is the “standard” product that settles into a bank account like a traditional point-of-sale (POS) unit. The third is an “enterprise solution” designed to integrate with existing POS systems.

    SnapScan started out operating in a number of stores around Stellenbosch. Ehlers was surprised by the good response  and the company is now planning to expand to Cape Town and Johannesburg. However, the timing isn’t confirmed yet. Expansion will be gradual and carefully monitored, he says.

    “We work very iteratively. We want to understand the market really well. We’ve been really impressed with amount of repeat purchases we’ve seen in Stellenbosch along with the low rate of people abandoning it. To maintain that momentum we need to do a controlled roll-out.”

    Part of that means making sure SnapScan is accepted in multiple stores. “No one’s going to commit to an app if they can only use it in one store.”

    SnapScan’s win at the MTN app awards this week includes a budget for marketing, which Ehlers says should help the company expand to new regions more quickly.  — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media

    • Read more articles on South African technology start-ups


    Alan Knott-Craig Jr FireID Johann Rupert Justin Stanford Kobus Ehlers MTN MTN Business MXit Reinet SnapScan SnapScanApp Spar Standard Bank
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleDe Faria takes Airtel top job
    Next Article Sanral dismisses DA’s Aarto claims

    Related Posts

    TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

    3 July 2025

    Absa CEO Fihla to ditch ‘prison’ branches and revamp customer focus

    1 July 2025

    MTN – the network for networks

    25 June 2025
    Company News

    AI in project management: a new era of efficiency and transformation

    10 July 2025

    Samsung unfolds the future with thinnest, lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet

    9 July 2025

    Huawei supercharges South African SMEs with over 20 new eKit products

    9 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.