Informal economy in South Africa gets cashless payments South African mobile payments startup iKhokha and Mastercard have announced a partnership that aims to boost payment card acceptance at micro, small and medium enterprises in informal settlements, while educating consumers and business owners on the benefits of using electronic payments instead of cash. “We are focusing on businesses at the main trade and transit points where volumes of people are high and cash-related crime is a serious problem. We explain to entrepreneurs that they can grow their sales with iKhokha and then gain access to unsecured capital for growth needs. If customers would prefer to pay with a card, then it’s time to move beyond cash only acceptance,” Putman says. Recent iKhokha research reveals that low-income earners who are banked, generally withdraw their entire monthly income from an ATM, and then carry cash for the month as a result of very limited card acceptance in informal settlements. “While the number of South Africans with access to formal financial products has increased significantly over the last five years, the true potential of electronic payments is going to remain dormant unless payment cards are accepted at the stores and outlets where the newly-banked would normally shop,” says Mark Elliott, division president for Mastercard, South Africa. We certainly need this, but I'm sincerely hoping we don't need to have five different apps on our phone depending on which merchant we are visiting. I'm already struggling to keep SnapScan, Zapper, FlickPay, etc up to date on my phone. See http://ift.tt/2cCu9ne
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