You’ve probably heard of Zapper. No, not Frank, Dweezil, or Moon Unit. The South African mobile payments company. Zapper has announced that merchants may now accept payments using NFC-enabled smartphones. The main reason for the excitement? These payments can be accepted from any bank and any customer, regardless of whether the customer uses the Zapper app.

“After a successful pilot phase, we have rolled out new functionality available to all Zapper merchants which enables them to accept physical card payments as well as mobile wallet payments, such as Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay, and others. The consumer simply taps the physical card or mobile device on the merchant’s compatible Android smartphone,” said company CEO Brett White.

Zapper

To use the new pay features, merchants need an NFC Android device running Android 9.0 or later. Without this, customers are forced to pay using an older method. With this, customers need simply tap their card, the same way they might with a standard point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Customers, on the other hand, are not hindered by the same restrictions. They don’t even need the app. Zapper accepts payment from any NFC-enabled phone, along with supported bank cards, other third-party apps, and of course the retro QR codes the company is known for. The company even take a form of crypto, known as 6dot50.

Zapper touts the added security that comes from using contactless payment, even if it’s enabled by a smartphone. Since the card never leaves the customer’s hand, it’s… fairly secure. The company has also added the ability to input their PIN via the phone/POS device. Those who have run over their verification limits can still make purchases by using the PIN, like a less tech-savvy person. The point, apparently, is to give Zapper merchants as many options as possible.

“Zapper merchants now have a comprehensive payment acceptance capability and enterprise-level retail insights and payment solution that can be managed entirely via their smartphone,” said White.