Pick n Pay said on Friday that it is introducing scan-and-pay technology at till points nationwide so customers don’t have to touch point-of-sale terminals during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, Shoprite Group, which owns Shoprite, Checkers and Usave stores, announced a similar initiative. The Pick n Pay QR payments system works through Mastercard’s Masterpass service.
“Masterpass lets customers securely download a free digital wallet from any of the major South African banks to their mobile phone. Customers can then safely and simply pay for their purchase by scanning the QR code at the till from the Masterpass app and entering their bank Pin on their phone. This means that customers and cashiers don’t have to exchange a bank card and the payment Pin pad is avoided,” Pick n Pay said in a statement.
Customers will also be able to use the SnapScan and Zapper apps to make payments, it said.
Pick n Pay CIO Richard van Rensburg said the number of customers making use of contactless “tap and go” payment functionality over the past month has “increased significantly as they limit unnecessary contact”.
“We piloted the new scan-and-pay QR payments last week in selected stores, and customer feedback was very positive. We will complete our roll-out to all our stores nationwide by the end of next week,” Van Rensburg said.
Pick n Pay said it also offers a cardless option for its Smart Shopper loyalty system, with customers able to scan a QR code from the retailer’s mobile app at the point of sale. — © 2020 NewsCentral Media
