Running a business isn’t easy. Fortunately, technology companies are making it easier for all business owners to run and grow their businesses.

iKhokha is one of South Africa’s leading financial technology companies. Operating from headquarters in Umhlanga, iKhokha is constantly developing solutions to help businesses rise.

iKhokha is best known for its card machines. But how are its devices different from traditional bank speed points?

In the past, businesses have paid rental fees to the banks for to use their card machines. With iKhokha, business owners can buy a device outright to avoid monthly rental fees.

Visit www.ikhokha.com for more information

Every financial services provider charges a transaction fee every time a card is swiped, tapped or inserted into a card machine.

iKhokha further incentivises its merchants by dropping their transaction rates (starting at 2.75%) the more they sell.

According to iKhokha co-founder Ramsay Daly, while card machines may be the company’s bread and butter, it’s just the first piece in iKhokha’s small business enablement puzzle.

“We started with card acceptance, and through our journey we’ve realised that there are other exciting areas that we can solve for,” says Daly. Now, iKhokha is diversifying its offering to provide more business solutions.

For chief technology officer Derek van Daal, iKhokha’s new range of online payment solutions can be a game changer for small businesses. “Fintech is an exciting space to be in right now,” says Van Daal, who is the former tech lead at First National Bank. “At iKhokha, we are building tech that is on par with top companies around the world.”

Making an e-commerce entrance

Eager to prove that its business tools aren’t only for brick-and-mortar stores, iKhokha has made a dramatic entrance into the e-commerce space after launching a series of digital products in recent months.

The first was the iK Pay Gateway, a payment gateway for WordPress (WooCommerce) websites that allows online businesses to accept debit and credit card payments via their websites. Soon to be available on Wix, this payment gateway also offers impressive transaction rates, starting at 2.85%/transaction.

But what about those who don’t have a website or online store?

Taking note of the increase in remote work and digital services, iKhokha set out to create an offering that would allow merchants to get paid online without a fully functioning online store.

Recently, iKhokha launched iK Pay Link on the free iKhokha app. Using iK Pay Link, iKhokha merchants can send a payment link to a customer via social media, WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail. They can even add the link to digital invoices!

Digital products geared for growth

iKhokha also offers a way for all merchants to immediately increase their basket size to generate more income without any outlay. It’s called iK Vend, another nifty feature on the iKhokha app. With iK Vend, merchants can sell digital services like prepaid airtime, data and SMS bundles. They can also sell prepaid utilities and settle various bills, including traffic fines and DStv bills.

The company even offers qualifying merchants access to funding via iK Cash Advance, also housed in the iKhokha app. Similar to a short-term loan, a cash advance gives businesses a cash injection when they need it most – helping them to avoid cash flow issues, order stock, cover a shortfall, or upgrade equipment.

Best of all, the iK Cash Advance incurs no compound interest and is repaid with a percentage of future card sales. It’s a popular product as over 65% of cash advance users choose to take another cash advance once paid back.

As iKhokha continues to grow, the business promises to add more products (in the physical and digital payments space) to empower and uplift those who have taken the leap into entrepreneurship.

“Our goal is to make our merchants’ lives easier to enable them to focus on their businesses,” says Daly.