Rory Bosman
Rory Bosman

 

By Rory Bosman, Executive for Sales & Marketing at Ecentric Payment Systems

Physical retail is as important as ever, which means that in-person payments continue to play a pivotal role in South Africa’s retail landscape. In light of this, continued investment has been directed toward in-person payment innovation, a trend that is expected to persist well into the foreseeable future.

In-person payments refer to payments that occur in a store, where the merchant and the customer are both physically present. Unlike online payments that happen through a digital interface, in-person payments typically involve hardware such as mobile point of sale devices. These devices allow customers to tap, swipe or insert their cards, or they enable contactless or mobile wallet payments.

A closer look at where the sector is going

2024 has seen a marked move towards a true omnichannel experience, where in-person and online payments are integrated. This convergence of in-person and digital payments, facilitated by innovative mobile point-of-sale solutions, represents a key evolution in the broader payments landscape. This is a trend that Ecentric has prioritised because there is definite demand from merchants who want to offer experiences that seamlessly blend online and offline payment capabilities.

Financial inclusion is an important theme in the payments industry, where innovative partnerships give merchants and customers more opportunities to transact. To this end, Ecentric partnered with Flash Group to integrate 1Voucher into its payment ecosystem, effectively opening doors for cash customers who’ve historically been excluded from digital payments. 1Voucher is a prepaid payment voucher that converts cash into digital currency. Expect to see far more innovation as merchants seek to tap into the emerging market’s massive potential.

However, innovation around financial inclusion extends beyond just in-store payment solutions, with use cases limited only by imagination. In an effort to formalise and digitise the minibus taxi industry, the Wealth On Wheels (WOW) initiative, led by the Eastern Cape Transport Tertiary Cooperative Limited in partnership with Ecentric and FORUS Digital, leverages innovative technologies such as digital cash payments and distributed ledger technology to help minibus owners enhance operations and maximise their revenue, while creating a safer and more secure environment for the travelling public.

Cryptocurrency, and being able to accept cryptocurrency payments, is certainly also a hot topic. It is definitely gaining some traction in the market but it is not yet a major driver in South Africa. Payment service providers with an eye on the future are no doubt building partnerships to enable cryptocurrency payments. While there isn’t massive demand yet from merchants, there is a very vocal customer base demanding it, but this segment is still relatively small. Regulation has had an impact here. Every crypto exchange or crypto payment enabler – anything to do with crypto – now needs a license. Choosing the right partners in this space will be crucial.

What was the preserve of the largest merchants before, loyalty and  rewards programs are definitely on the upswing in the mid-market retail space. Looking at the economic benefits around customer attraction and retention, mid-market players have recognized that they are big enough to introduce a loyalty and rewards program. This demand will continue to grow as more retailers seek to build loyalty in an increasingly competitive environment. Facilitating the acceptance of these programs as tender for payments, is a key component of the payments service provider offering.

It is clear that there is a definite surge in innovation and alternative payment methods. One of the consequences of this is an increased need to be on top of security – fraud detection and other security measures need to keep pace with innovation. A good way to see it is that each new payment method provides a new door and these new doors need to be secured with increased diligence.

This underscores the need for payment providers such as Ecentric to stay well-ahead of the curve on security and compliance in order to build trust and confidence in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.