Standard Bank has launched MasterCard’s MasterPass, a digital wallet that allows consumers to pay for goods and services using a digital wallet. South Africa is the first country in the Middle East and Africa and the 10th worldwide to get the service. “It’s not only going beyond cash but beyond plastic that
MasterCard’s annual Online Behaviour Study, presented by World Wide Worx, has revealed that the availability of secure payment facilities is most critical to South Africans when they shop online. The study revealed that 90% of respondents cite the availability
Blue Label Telecoms and MasterCard plan to roll out point-of-sale (POS) devices to 22 000 small traders and rural shops in South Africa, allowing them to accept card payments for the first time. Blue Label already provides thousands of POS terminals in South Africa, which
South Africans spent R3,3bn shopping online in 2012, a figure that’s expected to grow to R4,4bn, or by 25%, this year. But with more people having access to the Internet, the proportion of consumers who shop in this way decreased compared to 2011. Although South Africans
Standard Bank will begin including contactless payment technology in new credit and cheque cards, allowing customers to make payments using the “tap-and-go” method, rather than them having to have their cards swiped or inserted into a chip reader. All new gold and titanium credit and
More than half of SA’s population that is online at least once a week is willing to shop on the Internet, and the number is growing. Convenience is deemed more important than cost for most consumers and the trend is being driven by group-buying, airline tickets and digital media purchases. These are the findings of a new MasterCard
Absa has launched what it’s calling SA’s first “live user trial” of near-field communication (NFC) technology on mobile phones. The trial will kick off in mid-December and involve 500 of the bank’s own staff members, operating in a live commercial environment. The system will use NFC capabilities
Two-month-old Cape Town start-up Quicket is taking the fight to SA’s dominant ticketing company Computicket by making it possible for companies and individuals to manage their own ticketing for an event and providing them with a database of all attendees
Kenyan operator Airtel, Standard Chartered Bank and MasterCard have developed a solution that will allow people in the East African nation to make online purchases with their cellphones, obviating the need for a credit or debit card. The service, called PayOnline, will
Last week’s purchase by Visa of Cape Town-based mobile payments company Fundamo in a US$110m all-cash deal demonstrates clearly how the race is on to provide electronic financial services using cellphones, especially in emerging markets
