For the past week, I’ve been testing VezoPay, the South African-made payment ring that lets you ditch your wallet and even your phone. Here’s my honest experience.

VezoPay, founded by South Africans Jake Pinkus and Lawrence Baker, wants to use the payment ring to help simplify payment at the point of sale.

Like many people, I’m a fitness enthusiast who enjoys outdoor adventures. Lugging a phone or wallet around with me on these trips isn’t always convenient. Plus, with summer coming, I can see the appeal of a payment option that’s easy to take along on those beach trips with the family, without running the risk of having your phone or wallet nicked while taking a dip in the sea. Also, no more scrambling for cash when the ice cream cravings hit!

X, Classic and Signature

VezoPay offers a variety of styles to suit your taste, from sleek ceramic to classic silver and premium gold options:

The X ring features a sleek and minimalist design, made from ceramic and available in three colours – black, white and pink – with either a gloss or matte finish. Prices start at R2 100;
The Classic ring, crafted from silver, starting at R3 500; and
The premium Signature ring is available in yellow gold and rose gold, ranging from plated options to solid 18-carat gold. Prices vary from R5 000 to R28 950.

The rose gold-plated Signature ring I tested was lightweight and comfortable to wear all day long. It looks and feels like a piece of quality jewellery, and is well engineered, waterproof and doesn’t scratch easily.

Remarkably, it has no battery, which means it doesn’t need any charging either.

Read: New payment ring launched – built by South Africans

Setting up the VezoPay app was a breeze. The process took about 10 minutes. I used the Fidesmo app as VezoPay’s own app is still in development. The app is user friendly, with a minimalist interface that displays your transaction history and allows for management of your account.

Although at the time of the review only Nedbank cards can be loaded and used with the ring, the start-up is onboarding other banks, which should be supported soon.

VezoPay prioritises security. Like Samsung Pay or Apple Pay on smartphones, the ring uses tokenisation to keep users’ financial information safe. There’s also a handy feature that lets you remotely disable the ring in case of loss, while a daily spending limit provides additional peace of mind.

My first purchase with VezoPay was at a local coffee shop. A quick tap on the contactless reader and the transaction was completed within seconds. The cashier seemed intrigued by the ring – a conversation starter for sure.

Throughout the week, I used the ring for various purchases, including at my local mall and at a rugby match at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. It was great not having to carry my wallet in places where I might lose it or, heaven forbid, get pick pocketed.

It was also convenient going on a hike and not having to carry around my phone or wallet, then stopping by a shop afterwards to get a bottle of water and a quick bite to eat – again, no wallet or phone needed.

However, there is one downside: in my testing, the VezoPay ring wasn’t as sensitive as a tap-to-pay bank card or phone, requiring a more deliberate touch for successful payment registration. In one instance, the ring wouldn’t work at a touchscreen payment terminal, forcing me to use my card. This only happened once.

Convenient

So, it can be bit fiddly to make payments and it takes a bit of practice to position the ring on the point-of-sale terminal. But it’s certainly less awkward than trying to bend your wrist to pay with a smartwatch.

VezoPay is a promising and convenient payment option, especially for those who value a minimalist approach. And it’s exciting to see a South African company at the cutting edge in payment hardware. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media

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