So, you’re out at one of your local markets ordering some boerewors rolls and chips when you realise you don’t have any cash on you. Market stalls don’t often have card machines at their disposal either. Now, you’ve got to be inconvenienced and rush over to the nearest ATM while your food gets cold……Or do you?
The app is completely free to download for iOS, Android and Blackberry 5, 6 and 7. And an easily navigable interface makes payments as easy as scanning the QR code, punching in the amount and your pin, and pressing the pay button. What’s more, while Snapscan is a product of Standard Bank, customers are able to use any Master Card, Visa credit cards and debit cards from any bank to transact using the app. You’re not excluded from benefiting if you’re in business with another bank.
With regards to privacy, Snapscan is completely secure. On the app itself, your card is protected by a pin code that you get to choose during the set up process. While externally, your card’s details are encrypted on the Standard Bank servers to prevent hacking.One of the more exciting implementations of Snapscan has been in the car park industry in Cape Town. People in the city are now able to pay car park marshals using the app. As part of a partnership with Street Parking Solutions, all marshals in the City Bowl district now carry Street Parking Solution and SnapScan bibs.
Everything about SnapScan is designed to make paying for things (and accepting payments) really, really simple. However Kobus Ehlers, co-founder of Snapscan, has this to add: “We still have a long way to go. SnapScan is aiming at places where there is a real payment problem, rather than just trying to compete with card machines.”Snapscan is proving to be a significant innovation for the way small businesses are run in South Africa, and growth is expected to continue, with Ehlers and the team introducing new features in the months to come. Have you downloaded Snapscan and are making use of it at your local stores?
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