The local fintech company known for simplifying in-person payments with smarter and more sophisticated card machines has announced that their platform will now allow small businesses to manage and accept online payments while the country remains in lockdown to at least help bring in some kind of cash.
While massive online retailers have arguably been the least impacted by the national lockdown of South Africa it’s the smaller, more personal business that are truly suffering. Those businesses that require walk-in customers to sustain any kind of profit have it rough at the best of times but with people not leaving their homes, a big chunk of their revenue has been cut off and with online selling and shipping being an avenue too expensive for most small businesses to afford, many are in dire straights. That’s where Yoco comes in with a plan that should hopefully help a lot of people in these dark times.
Yoco, known for it’s innovative take on simplifying in person payments, has confirmed that it will be offering those small business that already make use of the service an online platform so that they may try and continue generating income during lockdown. Said Yoco CEO and co-founder Katlego Maphai, “Yoco’s mission has always centred around helping small businesses thrive and supporting them is more important now than ever before. The national lockdown has had a severe impact on our merchants. Through our platform and the results of a recent merchant survey, we have seen up to a 90% decrease in in-person transactions since the lockdown began. We knew that the best way to support our merchants was to develop products that would enable them to do business online and keep money coming in through this period.”
Businesses will be able to make use of the Payment Page, Gift Vouchers, and Payment Request options, all of which allow them to conduct online transactions safely and securely. Not only that but the Yoco Online Payment suite will allow businesses to monitor, track and issue invoices for both online and in-person purchases. According to a press release sent out by Yoco this morning the process will be remarkably simple:
“Payment Page enables merchants to receive card payments through a personalized online page, removing the friction of EFTs and creating a seamless experience for customers. Gift Vouchers allow customers to support their local small businesses cash flow needs now, and redeem the vouchers for products or services once the lockdown is lifted. Lastly, Payment Request gives merchants who are still trading the ability to request and accept online card payments for sales, conveniently tracked within their sales history. The Online Payment suite is available on the Yoco app from now to all Yoco customers.”
Yoco also confirmed that they have now reached a major milestone: An active consumer base of 80 000 small businesses. “Our growing volume of merchants puts into perspective the number of people who rely on us to help them do business,” said Lungisa Matshoba, co-founder and CTO. This is apparently what pushed Yoco to go the extra mile and develop online payment solutions.