A new start-up, Johannesburg-based Rocmypeer, wants to help consumers advance cash online to each other through a smart “peer to peer” platform that allows people to advance and recoup money from their peers directly.

CEO and founder Grant Mashale, a former television producer, says the system also allows small businesses to offer purchase advances to their customers. They can advance cash and collect payments for goods and services automatically at a date they determine.

Mashale, 30, got the idea for Rocmypeer when his first start-up, Dine Ticket, a ticketing system meant as a rival to Computicket, did not prove successful. He decided to venture into e-commerce, with a particular focus on peer-to-peer payment systems.

Mashale says he has been an entrepreneur since high school — when he started his first business — and has always been passionate about technology.

Rocmypeer was developed using secure online payment system Payfast, a popular South African e-commerce platform preferred by many online stores. The company is a verified merchant and conforms to all security and risk compliance required by Payfast, says Mashale.

The Web-based platform has been designed to work across all devices, although no device-specific applications are available. According to Mashale, a mobile app is on the cards.

Rocmypeer charges a fee of 2% of the transaction, plus R20 is levied on the recipient. This R20 is added to the repayment balance. Mashale says that the company now offers airtime, data and electricity voucher advances of up to R250 in value.