Nedbank’s ‘Tap On Phone’ Seeks To Empower SMMEs With Safe Contactless Payments
Nedbank’s ‘Tap On Phone’ Seeks To Empower SMMEs With Safe Contactless Payments. Nedbank has unveiled its new tap-on-phone functionality that allows all merchants and business owners to convert their mobile phones into payment acceptance devices. Tap on phone is the result of a collaborative partnership between Nedbank, Mastercard, Synthesis, and iVeri. The tap-on-phone functionality aligns with Mastercard’s commitment to delivering quicker and more accessible payments, without ever sacrificing security for convenience.
“Tap-on-phone makes it much easier for small- and medium-sized businesses to use their compatible smart phones to easily accept payments quickly and securely from their customers for goods or services.” Chipo Mushwana, Executive of Emerging Payments at Nedbank told Business Tech.
“This has really transformed my business because it was fast and efficient in getting set up. It is also very hygienic, as my clients don’t have to touch my cell phone and I don’t have to touch their cards. I adopted the system in the middle of August 2020 and my customers already really love the system.” Lorina Gerber, owner of Pamper & Hair Hub, and one of the first users told Business Tech.
According to a Mastercard study, 75% of South Africans said they are now using contactless payments, citing safety and cleanliness as key drivers, and 78% indicated that they will continue to use contactless post-pandemic. “Many of the businesses who leveraged the speed and flexibility of Tap-on-phone were able to generate much-needed revenue to keep their operations going, and in some cases, get new enterprises off the ground cost-effectively. The functionality enables contactless payment acceptance, and there’s no health risk to the merchant or customer. It builds further on Nedbank’s successful PocketPOS payment solution, which was also the first mobile card reader of its kind to be launched in South Africa in 2013.” Mushwana added.
According to Business Tech, tap-on-phone uses the same strong security as physical payment terminals and meets Mastercard and Visa requirements. The security is further enhanced by the fact that customers do not have to hand over their physical bank cards to a merchant when paying.
Ciko Thomas, Nedbank’s Group Managing Executive said in a statement that, “Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, tap on phone is another example of Nedbank’s commitment to harnessing its digital strength to deliver inclusive banking services for all. The challenges presented by Covid-19 demand that the world of payments evolves even quicker, and banks must respond by providing innovative ways for businesses to connect with their customers through easy, inclusive and preferably contactless payments solutions. Nedbank’s tap-on-phone functionality enables this by harnessing the power of mobile technology.”
