SnapScan, a product of FireID Payments, is a new mobile app in South Africa which allows users to make payment transactions using their smart phone.
To process a payment a user scans the code with the SnapScan app, which is operated using the phone’s camera. This recalls a store’s relevant details and allows them to pay and confirm the transaction with a 4 digit PIN.
The charge is taken off a debit or credit card (Visa or MasterCard), the same way it would with a regular card transaction.
The app is available for iPhone, Android or BlackBerry and is free to download and use. Once downloaded, bank cards are scanned onto the phone and protected with a four digit PIN. Details are encrypted and stored on the phone itself and cannot be seen by anyone else.
SnapScan connected shops each have a unique code which is linked to their bank account. This is called a SnapCode. The Merchant Finder, an operation within the app, allows users to identify available SnapScan connected shops.
Kobus Ehlers, co-founder of the SnapScan app believes that Africa is a leader in the mobile payment field and said: “SnapScan was developed in South Africa for the African market, so we try to find really local and relevant solutions and I think it’s going to get a massive uptake. Technology in general is going to get a massive uptake in Africa as we don’t have those legacy systems. People aren’t used to using credit cards for example, they can skip right ahead and start using cutting-edge payment technology.’
In the next four years Africa’s smartphone market is predicted to double and mobile payment methods are expected to increase respectively. Kenya has already developed a mobile platform, M-Pesa, which allows users to pay bills, withdraw salaries and transfer cash electronically. In a sense, Africa’s lack of traditional infrastructure has resulted in the continent moving directly into the mobile space.
John Campbell, head of the Beyond Payments division of Standard Bank, commented: “In other territories where that infrastructure was not available, that infrastructure has been leapfrogged by the use of mobile. M-Pesa in Kenya is a good example of that, where money goes straight to your mobile — your mobile number almost becomes your account number, that’s effectively what happens.”
Visit the SnapScan website for more information.
