Absa bank customers can now accept card payments using only their smartphones with the bank’s new Mobile Pay app.

You don’t need a point-of-sale (POS) terminal or any other additional hardware. Just an NFC-enabled smartphone and a customer with a tap-to-pay bank card.

Absa on tap

It’s fairly easy to get. Your smartphone needs to be running Android 6.0 or higher, according to the listing on the Google Play Store. Chances are, if your phone came out in 2016 or later, you should be good. Your phone also needs to support Near Field Communication (NFC). That part is important. It’s the tech that makes this whole process possible.

It also doesn’t need a post-graduate degree to operate. If you’re a merchant wanting to charge someone, you just enter the amount in your phone and the customer taps their contactless debit or credit card on your device.

The initial setup process is a little more complicated, though. It’s worth wading through, though. Small businesses or vendors will find the app is a big deal since those businesses can accept card payments without having to rent terminals or expensive POS equipment.

Absa executive Faisal Mkhize said “The app will accept card payments below R500 without the need for a PIN, but for added security, a PIN is needed for transactions of R500 or more. There is no limit to transactions and the shopper’s normal card payment limits will apply.”

For peace of mind, all payments made this way are digitally secure and certified by both Mastercard and Visa.

The only catch is that this is only available to Android smartphones, for now. iPhone users must wait for Apple to implement a tap-to-phone feature to ship to their devices first. That could happen this year, but we wouldn’t hold our breath.

Source: TechCentral