Lipa Payments Blog

Enhancing the Retail Experience During the Festive Season and Beyond with SoftPOS

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 13:49:19 GMT

With the festive season fast approaching, retailers are gearing up for one of the busiest times of the year. Transaction volumes and customer activity are at their peak, and retailers must ensure their operations are efficient and scalable to meet this demand. This is where SoftPOS (Software Point of Sale) steps in, transforming Android devices (OS11 and above, with NFC capabilities) into payment terminals that help retailers go beyond traditional POS systems. While often associated with lowering hardware costs for small merchants, SoftPOS has many missed oppurtunities, particularly valuable during high-traffic periods like the festive season and beyond.

Why SoftPOS is the Ideal Solution for Festive Retail Needs

The festive season presents unique challenges for retail businesses, such as managing increased foot traffic, preventing transaction bottlenecks, and enhancing the customer experience. SoftPOS is an affordable and hassle-free tool that offers a flexible solution to these challenges by enabling any Android device to process payments, empowering merchants to seamlessly scale operations without expensive hardware investments.

Here are some key SoftPOS use cases for retailers during the festive season:

1. Backup Devices

In the fast-paced environment of retail, hardware issues can disrupt customer service, leading to frustrated customers and lost sales. Devices may break or be unavailable due to heavy use, especially during peak seasons. With SoftPOS, retailers have the security of backup devices without needing to invest in additional POS hardware. Any Android device (OS 11 and above) can be transformed into a POS terminal, ensuring that customer service remains uninterrupted even if primary devices are damaged, busy, or temporarily unavailable.

2. Pop-ups and Events

The festive season is also a time for pop-up stores and special events, where businesses can reach new customers and promote seasonal products. For these pop-up locations, SoftPOS offers an easy and portable payment solution. By downloading the SoftPOS app on mobile devices, retailers can quickly equip multiple staff members with payment-ready devices, minimizing the need to relocate expensive POS terminals from permanent store locations or purchase additional hardware. This versatility allows retailers to seamlessly expand their presence and meet customers where they are.

3. Queue Busting

Long queues can dampen the festive shopping experience, especially when customers are juggling holiday tasks. With SoftPOS, queue busting becomes a practical reality. Staff can accept payments directly on the shop floor using their Android devices, enabling faster transactions and reducing customer wait times. This setup also reduces human error by letting shop floor assistants initiate and process payments without requiring customers to line up at a traditional POS system.

4. Endless Aisle Experience

The Endless Aisle concept allows customers to purchase items even if they’re out of stock at a specific location. This capability is especially beneficial during the festive season when stock can run low due to high demand. SoftPOS enhances the Endless Aisle experience by allowing customers to make secure payments directly on the sales floor, without needing to queue up at a busy checkout. This streamlines the process, enabling retailers to retain sales and provide superior service when in-store stock is limited.

The Long-term Value of SoftPOS

While SoftPOS is a valuable tool for high-traffic seasons, its benefits extend beyond the holidays. For retail businesses of all sizes, SoftPOS provides an affordable, scalable, and convenient way to streamline transactions, eliminate hardware-related risks, and create flexible service options. With customer expectations continuously evolving, SoftPOS equips businesses with the ability to meet these demands, regardless of the time of year.

For retailers or small businesses looking to make a lasting impact on customer experience and operational efficiency, SoftPOS is a practical investment during the festive season and a strategic asset throughout the year.

Request a demo with us here or download and test our softPOS application here .

Beyond Tapping – Transforming Cashless Payments for All – From SMEs to Enterprises

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 07:49:12 GMT

At Lipa Payments, you may know us as a provider of payment software solutions for banks and fintech, empowering small merchants to accept digital payments using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. Our platform has already significantly reduced the need for dedicated card payment terminal hardware.

Today, we're excited to announce that Lipa Payments is evolving beyond its original scope. Lipa Payments is no longer just a solution for banks and fintechs. We’ve expanded into a comprehensive solution designed to create simple cashless payment experiences for individuals and businesses of all sizes, right through their Android devices, eliminating the need for specialized hardware.

Our flagship product, Lipa SoftPOS, enables businesses of all sizes to accept digital payments in an all-in-one, convenient application. By using NFC and pay by link, businesses can now offer fast, seamless payment options to their customers, wherever they are.

Let’s take a closer look at the use cases where Lipa SoftPOS is transforming industries:

1. SMEs and Merchants on the Go

For small businesses and mobile merchants who need flexibility, Lipa SoftPOS is the ideal solution. Whether you’re at a pop-up event, market stall, or providing services on the go, you can accept card payments with just an Android device. No more bulky hardware or additional costs associated with renting card machines. With Lipa SoftPOS, you’re ready to transact anywhere your business takes you.

2. Integrated Till Experience

Lipa SoftPOS offers a seamless integrated till experience for retail environments, specifically designed to minimize human error by ensuring the order amounts in the POS system match the payment values. With effortless integration into existing POS systems, Lipa SoftPOS allows staff to manage transactions directly from their smartphones, resulting in faster payments and an overall enhanced customer service experience.

3. Pay on Delivery and Mobility

For delivery drivers or mobility service providers, accepting payments on the spot is crucial. Whether delivering groceries, packages, or transportation services, Lipa SoftPOS ensures that payments are processed immediately upon service completion. This not only increases convenience but also enhances the customer experience by offering a smooth, secure payment option.

4. Pay at Table / Queue Busting

In busy restaurants or retail outlets, queue busting, and pay-at-table solutions are essential for speeding up transactions and improving efficiency. Lipa SoftPOS empowers staff to accept payments directly at the table or on the shop floor, cutting down customer wait times and accelerating service. By initiating payments on the existing POS system and sending them to the merchant's device, it reduces human error and enhances productivity. This is particularly valuable in environments where fast service and customer satisfaction are top priorities.

Intergrations:

Lipa Payments takes it a step further with our Whitelabel App, SDK and Intent App, enabling businesses to create customized, integrated payment experiences.

Whitelabel App:

Our whitelabel app allows enterprises to effortlessly apply their unique branding to a pre-certified SoftPOS app and get to market quickly. This means businesses can customize the Lipa SoftPOS solution with their logos, color schemes, and branding elements to create a seamless, consistent payment experience that perfectly aligns with their brand identity. No need to build an app from scratch— businesses can get their branded payment solution up and running quickly while ensuring their customers receive a smooth and familiar experience.

SDK (Software Development Kit):

Lipa Payments’ SDK empowers integrators, developers, and businesses to embed contactless payment functionality into their existing mobile apps with just 11 lines of code. Our SDK is fully certified, having undergone rigorous evaluations to meet EMVCo, PCI-DSS, and Card Scheme standards. This means businesses using Lipa’s certified SDK can confidently assure their clients, including ISOs, payment facilitators, and acquirers, that their transaction security meets the highest standards in the payments industry.

Intent App:

Experience seamless transactions with our LipaApt Intent App. Using Android Intents, your app can send an instruction to wake up the SoftPOS and prompt it to accept payments effortlessly. Whether you're a financial institution or a large enterprise, integrating Lipa’s payment functionality into your existing app enhances the overall user experience, making payment processing smoother and more efficient.

Lipa Payments is more than just a payment software solution for banks and fintech. With our expanded ecosystem and innovative products like Lipa SoftPOS, we are transforming the way businesses of all sizes—whether SMEs, retail environments, or mobile service providers—accept and manage payments. From integrating seamless till experiences to enabling pay-at-table solutions and delivery payments, our solutions are designed to meet the evolving needs of the modern business landscape.

Through our Whitelabel App, SDK, and Intent App, we further empower businesses to customize their payment processes and integrate cashless payments into their existing systems effortlessly. At Lipa Payments, we’re committed to making transactions easier, faster, and more secure for everyone, creating a future where cashless payments are accessible and efficient for all.

SoftPOS for On-the-Go and On-Demand Services

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 08:22:50 GMT

In the dynamic world of on-demand services, efficiency and cost-effectiveness are key factors that can make or break a business. The arrival of SoftPOS (Software Point of Sale) is a game-changer for solutions such as ridesharing apps, food delivery services, grocery delivery platforms and merchant on the go services. SoftPOS addresses various challenges faced in the Pay-on-Delivery and Pay-on-Arrival scenarios, making it a beneficial alternative to traditional payment acceptance methods .

1. Cost-Effective Transactions:

One of the major benefits of SoftPOS for Pay-on-Delivery and Pay-on-Arrival is the lower transaction costs. Traditional payment methods include cash on delivery and e-commerce payments (card-not-present transactions). Cash handling costs and e-commerce payments fees are typically higher than the cost of in-person card payments (card-present transactions).

2. Reduced Hardware Requirements:

Equipping each delivery driver or merchant-on-the-go with a dedicated card machine can become quite costly at scale. SoftPOS allows the existing smartphone that is given to drivers to navigate and communicate with customers, to now be used for payment acceptance too. This means that one device can now be used for all the steps in the delivery journey.

3. Flexibility for Customers:

SoftPOS provides Pay-on-Delivery drivers and Pay-on-Arrival merchants with the ability to offer more payment options. This is a significant benefit for customers who may prefer paying after receiving their order. Customers who select pay on delivery but are caught off-guard on delivery day without any cash on hand, can now simply pay using their contactless card or through one of the alternative payment methods offered by the Lipa SoftPOS solution.

4. Enhanced Security:

SoftPOS incorporates robust security features, ensuring that customer data is transmitted securely during the payment process. After a successful tap, official branding from Visa or Mastercard assures customers they're using a legitimate channel. A scrambled PIN screen prevents anyone, even the driver, from memorising entered numbers.

Security measures are implemented to provide additional protection against applications that attempt to eavesdrop during transactions or utilise picture-in-picture functionality to capture sensitive screen information, such as entered PINs. Additionally, screenshot restrictions eliminate the risk of malicious actors capturing sensitive card details. These features not only safeguard data but also actively build trust, letting customers know their financial information is protected throughout the entire payment process.

How can on-demand services make use of SoftPOS?

Simplified Integration with Lipa NFC (Near Field Communication) SDK (Software Development Kit):

The beauty of SoftPOS lies in its adaptability for businesses on the go, especially in the delivery industry. This is made possible through the integration of our Lipa NFC SDK, a powerful tool that empowers integrators, developers, and businesses to effortlessly incorporate contactless payment functionality into their mobile apps. With just 11 lines of code*, delivery services can seamlessly integrate SoftPOS into their existing systems. The ease of integration ensures that merchants and delivery service providers can focus on delivering exceptional service rather than getting bogged down by complicated technicalities.
White-labeled Application for Quick Market Entry

The white labeling option provided allows delivery merchants to swiftly enter the market. By applying their branding to a pre-certified app, businesses can save valuable time and resources that would otherwise be spent on app development and certification processes. This accelerated market entry ensures that delivery services can quickly adapt to the ever-evolving demands of the industry.

SoftPOS integration through the Lipa NFC SDK or white labeled application significantly reduces operational hurdles for delivery merchants. The elimination of complex hardware and the simplicity of the integration process empower businesses to focus on their core operations without the burden of extensive technical challenges.

As the on-demand service industry continues to evolve, SoftPOS stands out as a versatile and cost-effective solution that empowers businesses to focus on delivering exceptional service while ensuring a seamless and secure payment experience for their customers. With SoftPOS, on-demand service providers can navigate the competitive landscape with confidence, knowing they have the tools to succeed in an ever-changing market.

Join our mailing list to stay updated on our latest news and upcoming Pay on Delivery pilots.

Product Update - January 2024

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 07:55:06 GMT

We’re excited to share the latest enhancements across the Lipa Payments ecosystem, introducing innovative features and improvements to elevate your experience. Among these updates, we made significant enhancements to our user interface (UI), ensuring a more intuitive and visually appealing interaction with our platforms.

Let’s dive into the updates:

Lipa SoftPOS:

Bank MID visibility:

Allowing merchants to effortlessly monitor the progress of their Bank Merchant ID (MID) application. Now, from their profile page, merchants can easily track the status of their application through the following stages:

Not Started:
Indicates that the process has not commenced. In other words, the merchant has not received the onboarding email to initiate the application.
Check Emails:
Merchants are prompted to check their emails, signifying that an email has been sent, guiding them to take necessary actions for the application process.
Requested:
Confirms that the merchant has successfully submitted the required documentation, formally requesting a Bank MID.
In Progress:
Denotes that the application is actively being attended to in collaboration between Lipa and the acquiring bank.
Rejected:
Communicates that the Bank MID application has been declined.
Errored:
Indicates that an issue has occurred during the Bank MID application process, requiring attention and resolution.

This new feature provides merchants with transparency and control over their Bank MID application journey, ensuring a seamless and informed experience.

Alternative Payment Methods (APMs)

In the modern digital era, consumers prefer convenient and secure contactless payments. However, challenges arise when customers lack NFC-enabled cards, need an offline PIN, or face transaction limits. We've addressed this by introducing alternative payment methods in Lipa Softpos, offering flexibility with APM integration and Lipa Pay by link.

Key Advantages:

Flexibility for Tenant:
As the Tenant, you now have the flexibility to incorporate a wide range of payment methods tailored to your merchants’ needs.
Enhanced Conversions:
Diversifying payment options contributes to increased conversions, transforming store visitors into purchasing customers.
Customer Satisfaction:
The expanded array of payment methods elevates customer satisfaction levels, enriching the overall shopping experience for your merchants.

Adding Alternative Payment Methods:

Provider Relationship:
To integrate alternative payment methods, the Tenant needs an existing relationship with the desired payment service provider.
Custom Integrations:
Should you wish to add payment methods beyond Lipa’s offerings, providing necessary information enables seamless integration into Lipa’s system.

Lipa’s Pay-By-Link Integration:

Seamless Integration:
Lipa now proudly offers the Pay-By-Link service through collaboration with Transaction Junction (TJ), serving as the service provider.

Lipa NFC SDK:

Security Updates:

Our SoftPOS solution has achieved certifications from both VISA and Mastercard, underscoring our unwavering commitment to delivering a secure payment solution. These certifications stand as a testament to our dedication to meeting the highest industry standards for transaction security.

Key Advantages:

Rigorous Evaluations:
Our SoftPOS solution has undergone comprehensive evaluations, ensuring compliance with the stringent requirements mandated by EMVCo, PCI-SSC, and Card Scheme standards.
Assurance for Businesses:
Businesses utilizing Lipa Payments' certified SDK can now confidently assure their clients, including ISOs, payment facilitators, and acquirers, that their transaction security aligns with and exceeds the industry's highest standards.

This achievement reinforces our commitment to providing you with a cutting-edge and secure payment solution.

Push Amount

The Push Amount feature is designed to streamline the transaction process, this cutting-edge capability allows one to directly pass an amount to the SDK via an exposed API, without the need to manually enter an amount. significantly reducing the need for manual input by the merchant.

Key Advantages:

Streamlined Transactions:
The Push Amount feature simplifies and accelerates transactions, providing a seamless experience for both merchants and customers.
Efficiency in High-Traffic Scenarios:
Ideal for high-traffic scenarios, this feature enhances efficiency by eliminating the time-consuming manual entry of payment amounts.
Error Reduction:
By automating the amount input process, the likelihood of errors is minimized, ensuring a more accurate and reliable transaction experience.
Fraud Prevention:
The reduced reliance on manual entry mitigates potential fraudulent activities associated with manual input, enhancing the overall security of transactions.
SDK Integration via API:
The Push Amount feature allows for the direct passage of payment amounts to the SDK through an exposed API, eliminating the need for manual amount entry.

Start Remote Transaction

The Start Remote feature is designed to remotely start a SoftPOS/Tap on Phone transaction from an external system, creating an integrated POS experience. This innovation unlocks the full potential of softPOS for payment acceptance, providing a modern and efficient solution.

Key Advantages:

System Integration Simplicity:
The “Start Remote” feature allows retailers to effortlessly integrate their systems with the Lipa platform, paving the way for the utilization of softPOS for seamless payment acceptance.
SoftPOS Payment Acceptance:
With the new “Start Remote” feature, retailers can integrate their systems with Lipa, enabling them to utilize softPOS for accepting payments.
Integrated POS Experience:
The “Start Remote Transaction” feature enables the initiation of SoftPOS/Tap on Phone transactions remotely from an external system, creating a seamless and integrated POS experience.

Lipa Pay:

Receive Function

We introduced the all-new “Receive” function on Lipa Pay, empowering you to effortlessly receive money from fellow Lipa Pay users. Harnessing the power of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology, this feature ensures seamless fund transfers to your friends, family, or business associates.

The “Receive” function simplifies the process of receiving money within the Lipa Pay community, making transactions quick and hassle-free.

Lipa Web Services:

Manage Merchants

We’re thrilled to unveil the enhanced “Manage Merchants” feature, providing tenants with a comprehensive overview of their merchants through an intuitive table view to aid in their support to their merchants.

Key Features:

Information Displayed:
- Merchant Status
- Lipa MID (Merchant ID)
- Bank MID (Bank Merchant ID)
- Bank MID Status
- Email Address
- First and Last Name
- Total number of terminals registered to the merchant
- Phone Number
- Business Address
Actionable Option:
Tenants can click on the menu at the end of each row to “Request a Bank MID” for an individual merchant.
Detailed Merchant View:
Clicking on an individual merchant in the table provides access to more information about the merchant and their registered terminals.
Search and Filter Functionality:
Easily locate a specific merchant by entering the terminal ID or Lipa MID in the search bar and filter merchants based on different bank MID status states.

This update streamlines merchant management, offering a convenient and efficient way for tenants to access, monitor, and interact with merchant details and associated terminals.

Manage Terminals

We’re excited to introduce the enhanced “Manage Terminals” feature, designed to empower tenants with comprehensive insights into their registered terminals through a user-friendly table view to aid in their support to their merchants.

Key Features:

Information Displayed:
-Activation Status
- Terminal ID
- Merchant ID
- Merchant Origination (SDK or White-label)
- Current Operator ID
- Terminal Nickname
- Terminal Model
- Terminal OS
- Bank MID Status
- Attestation Status
- Last Attestation Check
- Registration Date
Actionable Options:
Tenants can click on the menu at the end of each row to perform actions such as “Resync a terminal” or “Delete a terminal” for individual terminals.
Search and Filter Functionality:
Tenants can easily locate a specific terminal by entering the terminal ID in the search bar and filter terminals based on activation status or attestation status.

This update provides a streamlined and efficient way for tenants to manage and monitor their terminals, offering greater control and flexibility in terminal operations.

Webhooks:

In today's interconnected landscape, seamless communication between systems is paramount. Introducing the Transaction Webhook—a powerful communication bridge within the Lipa Payments system. This feature ensures efficient conveyance of transaction information to other integrated systems, providing real-time updates. This eliminates the need for merchants and tenants to actively request transaction information.

Key Highlights:

Seamless Data Transmission:
With this feature, webhooks seamlessly transmit transaction receipt data to designated recipient applications, enhancing the overall efficiency of data exchange.
Dashboard Empowerment:
Lipa now empowers tenants with a user-friendly dashboard to register, monitor, modify, and remove webhook endpoints. Take control of your communication preferences effortlessly.
Real-time Listening:
The introduced functionality allows recipient applications to actively listen for incoming HTTP POST requests, ensuring prompt and real-time data transmission.

In 2024, we plan to unveil additional features and updates for our products, with ongoing updates to keep you informed. Excitingly, we've begun our PCI MPoC journey, aspiring to attain certification in the coming months.

Thank you for being part of the Lipa community. We look forward to shaping the future of seamless, secure, and efficient transactions with you. Chat to us here.

Transforming Events: The Future of Seamless Payments with Lipa Pay & Lipa SoftPOS

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 09:33:19 GMT

In the evolving landscape of event management amid digital acceleration, contactless payments are taking centre stage. A study by Juniper Research projects global contactless payment transactions to surge from $4.6 trillion in 2022 to $10 trillion by 2027. This growth is fuelled by investments in the contactless payments ecosystem, particularly in contactless-enabled POS terminals and device-level support. As events prioritise efficiency and safety, the increasing importance of contactless payments is evident.

This blog explores the advantages of adopting these contactless payment solutions, focusing on Lipa Payments' flagship offerings: Lipa Pay and Lipa SoftPOS.

Benefits of Contactless Payments at Events:

Increase Efficiency:
In the hustle and bustle of events, time is of the essence. Utilising smartphones for payments becomes a game-changer, expediting transactions that is faster than traditional card payments. This heightened efficiency serves as the solution to long queues during peak times, ensuring a seamless and frictionless experience for both customers and merchants alike.

Safe and Secure:
Security is paramount in the digital age, especially when it comes to financial transactions. With strict security measures, customer personal data remains safe, never stored on the device. This not only guarantees enhanced security but also empowers attendees to make purchases without the need for physical cash, contributing an additional layer of safety to every event transaction.

Data-driven Decisions:
The true power of contactless payments lies in the wealth of real-time data they generate. Event organisers can tap into this data goldmine, gaining valuable insights that fuel informed, strategic decisions. This data-driven approach becomes a catalyst for enhancing the overall event experience, allowing organisers to adapt, evolve, and craft events that resonate with the preferences of their audience.

Lipa SoftPOS - Revolutionising Card Payments at Events:

What is Lipa SoftPOS:

Lipa SoftPOS is an application designed for businesses of all sizes that want to accept contactless payments. It enables various types of payment acceptance using a smartphone in a single application, including card payments using NFC, Bluetooth payments, and Pay by Link. This versatility allows businesses to offer simpler and faster ways for consumers to pay.

Why use Lipa SoftPOS at events?

Compliant and Certified:
Lipa SoftPOS ensures compliance and certification updates, eliminating the need for recertification. This commitment to regulatory standards enhances the reliability and security of the payment solution.

Fast Integration with Full SDK:
The full NFC Software Development Kit (SDK) ensures a swift integration process into existing applications. This fast integration feature is crucial for businesses seeking a seamless transition to contactless payments.

Scalability with Unlimited Merchants & Devices:
In the dynamic realm of events, scalability is non-negotiable. Lipa SoftPOS rises to the occasion by supporting an unlimited number of merchants and devices. This flexibility becomes particularly advantageous for those hosting outdoor events, festivals, or markets where adaptability is key.

Queue Busting and Alternative Payment Methods:
Queue busting is a game-changer, especially in high-traffic events. Lipa SoftPOS NFC not only facilitates speedy card transactions but also breaks down queues, ensuring a smooth flow of attendees. Additionally, the solution supports various alternative payment methods, providing attendees with diverse options for their convenience.

Lipa Pay - Making In-Person Mobile Payments Easy and Accessible:

What is Lipa Pay:

Lipa Pay is a consumer-facing wallet solution, aiming to make the payment process as straightforward as dealing with cash. The Lipa Pay wallet app uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for phone-to-phone payments without manually inputting details like account numbers. This patented solution uses BLE technology for seamless, contactless transactions between smartphones—enabling payments, money transfers, and wallet top-ups directly from your smartphone.

Why use Lipa Pay at events?

No Network or Mobile Data Required:
BLE payments do not rely on a stable network connection between both the sender and receiver devices, offering a reliable and convenient option for consumers. This ensures that transactions can take place even in areas with limited connectivity.

Instant Settlements and Interoperability:
Closed-loop transactions permit instant settlements, and Lipa Pay's BLE solution supports interoperability for switches. This means seamless transactions between different wallet providers, including banks, telcos, and fintechs.

Cash Withdrawals and Multi-Event Support:
Lipa Pay users have the flexibility to replenish their wallets for events and subsequently withdraw any remaining balance to their bank accounts post-event. Beyond event usage, Lipa Pay extends its functionality to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions and merchant-to-customer payments, providing a versatile wallet solution for a wide range of scenarios.

Lipa Pay and Lipa SoftPOS use cases:

As we delve into practical applications, consider a few noteworthy use cases that highlight the versatility and impact of our solutions:

Music Festivals:
Lipa Pay: Imagine a music festival where attendees can seamlessly purchase tickets through Lipa Pay. The swift and efficient transactions ensure a hassle-free entry experience, eliminating long queues and allowing festival-goers to focus on enjoying the music and festivities.
Lipa SoftPOS: At the merchandise stalls, vendors equipped with Lipa SoftPOS enhance the overall experience. Attendees can purchase band merchandise or collectibles with a simple tap of their card, enjoying a frictionless transaction that complements the vibrant and energetic atmosphere of the festival.

Food and Drink Festivals:
Lipa Pay: Food and drink festivals thrive on variety and flavor. Lipa Pay streamlines the process, allowing attendees to indulge in diverse culinary experiences without fumbling for cash. Whether they're savoring gourmet dishes or sampling exotic beverages, Lipa Pay ensures quick and secure transactions.
Lipa SoftPOS: Vendors at these festivals often face challenges with long queues. Lipa SoftPOS revolutionizes queue busting, providing a convenient solution for patrons to make card payments swiftly. This not only enhances the customer experience but also boosts sales for vendors.

Outdoor Markets:
Lipa Pay: Attendees exploring the outdoor market can use Lipa Pay to make quick and secure purchases. From buying fresh produce to unique handmade items, Lipa Pay ensures that the charm of the outdoor market is complemented by a modern and convenient payment experience.
Lipa SoftPOS: Picture a bustling outdoor market where vendors offer unique handmade crafts, fresh produce, or artisanal goods. Lipa SoftPOS NFC allows these vendors to accept a variety of payments, catering to a broader customer base and fostering a vibrant marketplace where everyone can enjoy the offerings without worrying about carrying cash.

Sports Events:
Lipa Pay: In-stadium purchases during sports events become a breeze with Lipa Pay. Fans can quickly buy merchandise and refreshments without leaving their seats, enhancing their overall experience. The efficiency of Lipa Pay contributes to a smoother flow within the stadium, allowing fans to focus on the game.
Lipa SoftPOS: Beyond spectator experiences, sports events involve various stakeholders such as vendors, sponsors, and organisers. Lipa SoftPOS offers a solution for secure and efficient transactions, ensuring that everyone involved in the event experiences the benefits of modern payment technology.

As we witness the rise of contactless payments, we provide businesses with innovative solutions to meet the evolving expectations and needs of customers. Whether it's the versatile Lipa SoftPOS or Lipa Pay, these contactless payment options offer efficiency, security, and a seamless experience for both event organisers and attendees.

Click here to chat with our experts and explore how Lipa Payments can transform your payment processes.

Lipa Payments Achieves Visa & Mastercard Full SDK Certification for Tap to Phone

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Lipa Payments (Lipa), a leading fintech in the world of contactless payments, proudly announces its official listing on the Visa and Mastercard SoftPOS certified partners websites. Lipa achieved a Full SDK with PIN certification and is one of less than 20 companies globally to achieve this feat. This achievement marks a groundbreaking step forward in revolutionizing how businesses can accept contactless payments. The Lipa SoftPOS NFC SDK was designed to enable secure and user-friendly payment acceptance by enabling contactless card payments (Tap To Pay) on any NFC enabled smartphone (Tap on Phone) within existing mobile applications.

One SDK, multiple use-cases:

Lipa Payments' SDK opens up a world of possibilities for businesses across various industries. Whether it's retail, hospitality, or on-the-go services, this solution transforms the way payments are accepted. Retailers can now seamlessly offer contactless payment options within their own apps, enabling queue-busting payment experiences.. On-the-go service providers, such as food delivery or transportation apps, can integrate secure payment capabilities directly into their apps, enabling pay-on-delivery/arrival payments experiences. The opportunities are endless.

Seamless Integration and Streamlined Processes:

Lipa Payments' SDK is a breeze for developers to integrate. With Lipa Payments’ publicly accessible documentation, developers can integrate the SDK with just 11 lines of code*. By simplifying the complexities associated with card payment acceptance, Lipa Payments' SDK accelerates time-to-market, reduces certification costs, and allows businesses to focus on enhancing their offerings to meet customer demands effectively.

Enhanced Security and Compliance:

The VISA and Mastercard certifications serve as a testament to their unwavering commitment to providing a secure payment solution. Their SoftPOS solution has undergone rigorous evaluations, meeting all security and functional requirements mandated by the EMVCo, PCI-SSC and Card Scheme standards. Businesses utilizing Lipa Payments' certified SDK can confidently assure their clients, including ISOs, payment facilitators, and acquirers, that their transaction security meets the highest industry standards.

Next Steps for Lipa Payments:

Lipa Payments is excited to share that they are already working towards their next certification, the PCI Mobile Payments on Commercial off-the-shelf (MPoC) security standard.

Lipa Payments' VISA and Mastercard certified SoftPOS SDK, combined with their ongoing MPoC journey, are a game-changer for businesses looking to enhance their payment offerings. With their secure and compliant solution, Lipa Payments empowers developers to effortlessly embed core payment functionalities. By relieving businesses of security and compliance concerns, Lipa Payments enables them to focus efforts on bringing new features, services, and products to their customers.

“Embrace the evolution of payments and provide your customers with a seamless, secure, and convenient payment experience. Together, let's shape and simplify the future of payments.” - Thando Hlongwane, Co-Founder of Lipa Payments

About Lipa Payments:

Lipa Payments is a payment software solution for banks and fintech's that allows small merchants to accept digital payments using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. We reduce the need for dedicated card payment terminal hardware.

Founded in 2019 by visionary tech entrepreneurs, Thando Hlongwane and Roger Bukuru, Lipa Payments stands at the forefront of empowering small businesses and reshaping the future of financial transactions. For more information, visit www.lipapayments.com

*Note: The "11 lines of code" statement refers to the simplicity of integration for illustrative purposes and may vary based on the developer's application and environment.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:

marketing@lipapayments.com

A Deep Dive into SoftPOS Security

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 15:05:49 GMT

We now live in a world where a software application can enable a smartphone to accept payments from contactless cards, mobile phones, and smartwatches. The shift from traditional hardware-based payment solutions to software-based solutions presents a big opportunity for micro-merchants but it also brings new challenges. The largest of those challenges is security.

Here's an in-depth overview of the security aspects of a SoftPOS solution:

1. Device Diversity and the "Untrusted Device" Paradigm:

SoftPOS solutions are designed to run on various models of smartphones, known as Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) devices. These devices come with diverse underlying hardware and software configurations, making it challenging to rely solely on the security of the device or its mobile operating system. Consequently, the security approach for SoftPOS revolves around treating the mobile device as "Untrusted," where the software must provide robust protection against a wide range of potential threats.

2. Security Testing and Evaluation:

Before SoftPOS solutions can start accepting payments, they undergo rigorous testing and security evaluations. These assessments are crucial to ensure that the software can withstand various forms of attacks, from malware and remote intrusions to physical access by malicious actors.

3. Industry Standards and Certification Bodies:

Two prominent industry bodies play a pivotal role in certifying and ensuring the security of SoftPOS solutions:

EMVCo manages the EMV specifications (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa) and testing programs. EMVCo focuses on ensuring that card payment solutions correctly and securely implement payment acceptance for various card schemes.

PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) serves as a global forum for the development and adoption of data security standards in payment solutions. PCI SSC concentrates on payment data security, which is essential for secure transactions in the SoftPOS world.

4. EMVCo SoftPOS Certifications:

EMV L2: This certification addresses the software’s ability to implement payment acceptance on COTS devices to validate the payment correctly.
The two components evaluated in this certification include;
The App/SDK – This is the payment acceptance application or SDK that contains the payment kernels used for processing the various card schemes supported by the SoftPOS application.
The back-end system – which handles the actual payment transaction and includes the attestation and monitoring server used for security management.

The security evaluation assesses whether the two components work seamlessly to perform regular checks on the security status and integrity of the solution and if necessary, mitigate any detected threats. These checks include but are not limited to device tampering, rooting, debug mode, emulation, malware protection, side-loading and device binding amongst other checks.

EMV L3: Assesses and verifies the compatibility of an EMV-compliant payment acceptance terminal with merchant or bank systems, ensuring it can successfully process end to end transactions. This testing is crucial to guarantee that any newly developed or upgraded terminal, whether it involves hardware, software, or both, aligns with the unique requirements of the various payment systems involved in a live transaction.

5. PCI SSC SoftPOS Certifications:

PCI-DSS: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was developed to help standardise payment card account data security. PCI DSS provides a baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to protect account data or cardholder data. PCI DSS is intended for all entities that store, process, or transmit cardholder data (CHD) and/or sensitive authentication data (SAD) or could impact the security of the cardholder data environment (CDE). This includes all entities involved in payment account processing – merchants, processors, acquirers, issuers, and other service providers.

PCI-PIN Security Standard: Contains a complete set of requirements for the secure management, processing, and transmission of personal identification number (PIN) data during online and offline payment card transaction processing at ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

PCI MPoC: The PCI MPoC Standard is a recently developed specification aimed at addressing the growing demand for secure, faster, and more seamlessly integrated payment processing solutions. This new PCI MPoC standard takes the existing scenarios covered by the PCI Contactless Payments on COTS (CPoC) and PCI Software-based PIN entry on COTS (SPoC) standards and expands upon them, introducing fresh payment capabilities and certification methods. Notably, it introduces the ability to conduct PIN-based transactions without the need for an extra security device attached to the merchant's smartphone. The existing SPoC standard pertains to tools that utilise an external card reader combined with a mobile device for accepting a cardholder's PIN. The CPoC standard, on the other hand, applies to technology that utilises the near-field communication (NFC) receiver in a COTS device but does not allow the cardholder to input a PIN. MPoC encompasses both of these use cases while also introducing additional flexibility for solution implementation.

6. Monitoring and Attestation

SoftPOS solutions require a monitoring and attestation system for terminals to swiftly identify any potential intrusion or tampering, thus ensuring the security of all transactions. Solutions must implement comprehensive mechanisms to assess the softPOS terminals' well-being, temperature, security, and root status, among other factors. The provision of real-time reporting, remote management, and device access empowers efficient device management and enhances overall security.

SoftPOS solutions have evolved to offer a flexible and versatile way of accepting payments using mobile devices. Security remains paramount in this space. With certifications from EMVCo and the PCI SSC solutions are robust, capable of withstanding threats, and compliant with industry standards. This commitment to security is essential to maintain customer trust and confidence in the ever-evolving world of digital payments. At Lipa Payments, we handle all necessary certifications, ensuring that when you white-label our solution or utilise our SDK, you can do so with confidence, free from security concerns.

Try our Lipa SoftPOS payment system today to see how easy it is to use, or contact us for a personalised consultation and we will help you get started with digital payments.

Celebrating the Women of Lipa Payments on Women's Day

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 07:07:09 GMT

As we celebrate Women's Day in South Africa, it is an opportune time to shine a spotlight on the remarkable women who are making waves in the fintech industry, specifically at Lipa Payments.

In a landscape traditionally dominated by men, these trailblazing women of colour in their mid-twenties are breaking barriers, defying expectations, and inspiring a new generation of young South Africans. Let's take a closer look at the two exceptional women who are making a significant impact at Lipa Payments: Thandokazi Kweyama and Sadeeqah Salie.

Thandokazi Kweyama: Business Development and Empowerment

Thandokazi Kweyama holds a significant role at Lipa Payments, drawing on her background in private equity and her experience working at a machine learning startup, she contributes a unique viewpoint to her role in driving Lipa's product commercialisation. Ensuring profitability is vital for Lipa Payments' sustainability, and Thandokazi is dedicated to achieving it and it is evident in her work.

Thandokazi's responsibilities extend beyond business development. She is curious about understanding the intricacies of the payments landscape, delving into product development, security, and operational frameworks used at Lipa Payments. When engaging with African banks, telecommunication giants, payment service providers and fintechs, she offers insights and clarity on various topics. Her diligence bridges the technical complexities of Lipa's products with practical applications for businesses.

Thandokazi's journey blends her corporate experience with her passion for tech startups and local businesses. Her decision to join Lipa Payments in pursuit of this mission showcases her dedication to making a lasting impact and having skin in the game. Thandokazi's story is a testament to the power of following one's passion and embracing change to create a better future for Africa.

Sadeeqah Salie: Branding and Creativity

Sadeeqah Salie, Lipa Payments' Brand and Marketing Lead, is a creative force. Fresh out of her tertiary institution, where she stood out as a top graduate nationwide, Sadeeqah embarked on her path as a graphic designer at a fintech startup. Thereafter, she swiftly mastered payment systems and fintech jargon. Now at Lipa Payments, her exceptional talent and unwavering commitment truly come to the fore.

Sadeeqah's role involves crafting the Lipa Payments brand through marketing content and user experience and interface of transformative products like Lipa Pay, Lipa SoftPOS, and Lipa web services. She combines technical insights with design expertise, ensuring Lipa's products are functional and visually appealing.

Sadeeqah's journey reflects her thirst for knowledge and creative expression. She thrives in a learning-focused environment, fueling her creativity.

Championing Diversity, Inspiring Change:

Thandokazi and Sadeeqah share a common thread: a determination to break barriers, shatter stereotypes, and inspire future generations. They find themselves in a supportive environment at Lipa Payments, surrounded by talented individuals who share their vision of excellence. Their dedication to fostering a positive working culture and pushing the boundaries of possibility sets a powerful example for young South African women.

As South Africa celebrates Women's Day, the women of Lipa Payments stand as paragons of resilience, creativity, and determination. Sadeeqah and Thandokazi embody the spirit of empowerment and change, shaping the fintech landscape with their remarkable journeys. Through their passion, hard work, and commitment, they remind us all that when women come together and strive for excellence, incredible transformations become reality. Lipa Payments celebrates not only the women at its helm but also the broader movement of women shaping the future of South Africa and beyond.

Stay in the loop and deepen your connection with the dynamic world of Lipa Payments by subscribing to our newsletter .

Unlocking Bluetooth's Power for Mobile Payments with Lipa Pay

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:20:20 GMT

In today's fast-paced world, smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives. They serve a wide range of purposes, from communication and social media access to online shopping and email management.

In the contactless payments landscape, we have introduced a new player that makes use of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology . Enter Lipa Pay, an innovative solution developed by Lipa Payments, harnessing the power of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). This patented payment solution leverages BLE technology to facilitate seamless, contactless transactions between smartphones.

Now, let's dive into the exciting world of Lipa Pay and discover what sets it apart, how it works, and the incredible benefits it brings to our everyday transactions in our fast-paced digital era.

Simplicity and Reliability: Exploring the Seamless User Experience of Lipa Pay

Lipa Pay's design embodies simplicity and reliability, focusing on providing a seamless user experience. When you open the Lipa Pay app, you'll be greeted with a uncluttered home screen that provides quick access to essential features. The Pay, Receive, Top-up, and Recent Transactions options are prominently placed for easy navigation. Each element is carefully designed with simplicity and clarity in mind, ensuring that even first-time users can intuitively understand and navigate the app.

The "Pay" feature allows you to make effortless payments to merchants or peers using BLE technology. Lipa Pay leverages the power of BLE to establish a secure connection, making transactions swift, convenient, and secure. Forget about fumbling for cash or struggling with card payments – Lipa Pay puts you in control.

Similarly, the "Receive" function empowers you to seamlessly send money to other Lipa Pay users. By utilizing BLE technology, Lipa Pay ensures effortless fund transfers to friends, family, or business associates. Splitting bills or reimbursing friends for a memorable dinner becomes a breeze with just a few taps on your smartphone.

To enhance convenience further, Lipa Pay provides a "Top-up Wallet" option, allowing you to effortlessly add funds using your bank card. Say goodbye to separate top-up apps to maintain a sufficient balance. Lipa Pay streamlines the process, saving you time and effort while ensuring your wallet is always ready for your payment needs.

Keeping track of your financial activities is essential, and Lipa Pay has you covered with the "Recent Transactions" section. Monitor all your transactions conveniently, view detailed histories, and access receipts for reference and peace of mind. With Lipa Pay, staying on top of your finances has never been easier.

How does Lipa Pay work within the BLE ecosystem?

The Lipa Pay system consists of two main devices: the Receiver and the Payer. The Receiver is the device that advertises itself to other devices, hoping to be discovered, while the Payer device scans for nearby Bluetooth devices that are advertising themselves.

Assuming both devices are ready to begin a transaction, the process unfolds as follows:

The Receiver device starts advertising itself over Bluetooth, changing its Bluetooth name to the user's name. This step makes it discoverable to other nearby devices.
The Payer device scans for nearby devices and displays a list of nearby receiver devices that are advertising themselves.
The Payer selects a device from the list, and a connection is established over Bluetooth between the Payer and the Receiver.
The Payer confirms the payment amount and enters a PIN to authenticate the transaction, ensuring security.
The transaction payload is sent from the Payer to the Receiver, and both devices alert their respective users that the payment is being processed.
The Receiver sends the transaction payload to the Lipa Payment Gateway and receives the transaction status from the gateway, ensuring the completion of the transaction.
The Receiver sends the transaction result to the Sender over the already established Bluetooth connection.
Both the Receiver and Payer devices display the transaction result to their respective users, providing transparency, and the wallet balances are updated accordingly.

Exploring NFC, QR Codes, and the Inclusivity of Lipa Pay

Contactless payment technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and Quick Response Code (QR Code) have been instrumental in driving convenient and hassle-free way of making payments for goods and services, as well as sending and receiving money, without the need for manual credit or debit card inputs. However, while NFC payments are fast and simple, they require compatible devices which have limited adoption in certain communities. On the other hand, QR codes are more inclusive but have limitations when it comes to payment confirmation. Read more.

Since all smartphones support Bluetooth and BLE, Lipa Pay can be used on any mobile phone, regardless of its price point or device capabilities.

Lipa Pay offers several benefits:

Easy to use: Lipa Pay's user-friendly interface ensures a seamless experience for all users.
Inclusivity: Unlike NFC or QR code payments, Lipa Pay is more inclusive, ensuring wider accessibility.
Enhanced security: Compared to traditional cash or credit card payments, Lipa Pay provides a higher level of security. Payments are encrypted and authenticated using BLE technology, the short range of BLE transmissions makes it difficult for hackers to intercept your payments.
Energy efficiency: Lipa Pay's BLE technology is more energy-efficient than NFC or QR code payments.
No network required or mobile data: BLE payments do not require a stable network connection or mobile data, making it a reliable and convenient option for consumers.
No proxy information needed: Peer-to-peer payments are seamless and hassle-free, as there’s no need to manually input any proxy information, such as an account or phone number. Simply click a button to search for nearby payees, select the person’s name, and complete the payment.
Instant settlements: BLE payments is a closed loop transaction therefore permitting instant settlements

With Lipa Pay, our aim is to provide an inclusive payment experience similar to other popular payment apps, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Geo-Pay, even for low-end smartphones. BLE technology allows for peer-to-peer payments without the need for manual input of account or cell phone numbers. Instead, users can simply click a button to search for people nearby and select their name to initiate a payment.

If you would like to find out more, contact us or book a demo .

Payments Glossary

Tue, 23 May 2023 09:03:38 GMT

Navigating the payments industry can be challenging due to all of the acronyms and technical jargon used.

To assist in your payments journey, we have compiled a list of these terms and their meanings, all in one convenient location for better understanding.

Enhancing Customer Experience with Split Payments

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 12:34:04 GMT

Split payments are a versatile payment method where multiple payment sources are used to pay for goods or services, either by an individual or a group. They can also be used to divide the cost of an item into instalments over a period of time. This approach to payments offers numerous benefits, including convenience, accessibility, and a streamlined customer experience.

One of the most rapidly growing use cases for split payments is buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), which enables customers to divide payments over time. This option has gained immense popularity, with leading BNPL companies like PayFlex, Lipa Later, MoreTyme, and Sympl experiencing significant growth.

Another use case for split payments is in group settings, such as restaurants, where multiple parties contribute to the bill using different payment methods. In such scenarios, split payments ease the transaction process and minimize friction amongst the group.

The rise of payment apps and digital wallets has made splitting payments easier. Some popular split payment platforms include:

FNB Geo Payments: Geo Payments is an innovative payment solution that leverages geo-location technology to provide users with a seamless payment experience. Geo-location technology utilizes a range of technologies, including GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and IP addresses, to determine the precise location of a device or individual.

FNB Geo Payments is a popular payment service that enables users to send and receive money instantly within a 500-meter radius without the need for inputting any banking details or phone numbers. This feature makes it incredibly convenient for groups to split bills or send money to a designated payer to settle a shared expense.

Zapper: QR codes are a type of two-dimensional barcode that uses a visual, machine-readable format to represent data. In today's world, QR codes have become an increasingly popular tool for making contactless payments using a mobile application.

Zapper is a mobile application that simplifies the payment process and e-commerce experience for both merchants and consumers. The app enables merchants to accept payments using QR codes and credit cards on their mobile devices. Consumers, on the other hand, can link their debit/credit cards to the Zapper app and make payments by scanning a merchant's QR code. The app also simplifies the process of splitting payments or bills by allowing payees to manually input the number of people splitting the bill and tip, or split the bill by separate amounts until the full amount is covered.

Lipa Pay: Lipa Pay leverages Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology to offer payment experiences that cannot be achieved through NFC or QR codes. What sets Lipa Pay apart is its accessibility, as even low-end smartphones with Bluetooth capabilities can accept BLE payments. Unlike other payment methods, BLE payments do not require a stable network connection or mobile data, making it a reliable and convenient option for consumers.

Using Lipa Pay, consumers can easily pay for their share of a bill directly from their mobile phones. Peer-to-peer payments are seamless and hassle-free, as there's no need to manually input any proxy information, such as an account or phone number. Simply click a button to search for nearby payees, select the person's name, and complete the payment. With Lipa Pay, split payments have never been more convenient and accessible.

Overall, split payments make transactions more accessible, reduce friction in group transactions, and improve customer experiences.

You can learn more about BLE payments in our BLE blog or watch our video . You can also request a demo and we’ll talk you through Lipa Pay.

Meet the Lipa Payments Development Team

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 14:54:03 GMT

Have you ever wondered who is responsible for creating the products and applications you rely on every day? In this week's blog, we will be introducing you to the individuals behind Lipa softPOS and Lipa Pay.

The Lipa Development team comprises of a fascinating and highly skilled group of full-stack developers and software engineers who work together to create cool products like the Lipa SoftPOS . This product enables individuals to accept payments on their smartphones using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. The team has also developed Lipa Pay, a payment application that allows users make payments using BLE.

A typical day in the life of the dev team starts with a “stand-up” meeting. During the “stand-up”, they discuss the product's components, and updates, always keeping the consumers' needs and desires in mind. The team then works collaboratively, with someone working on the front end and someone else on the back end, to implement new features or add new SDKs to the Lipa Pay and Lipa softPOS. They then test these features to ensure everything works correctly and make any necessary fixes.

The team's tech stack includes a variety of tools and technologies such as React and React Native, Redux, Kotlin, Node.JS, Figma, Azure DevOps, Spring Boot, Docker, K8S (EKS), Helm, Ambassador gateway API, Vault, Consul, and MongoDB.

The Lipa Development team members are not only exceptional at their jobs, but they are also pretty cool individuals outside of work.

Roger serves as both the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Lipa Payments, where he heads the development team and is a data scientist. He is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Roger relocated to South Africa during his childhood. Even at a young age, Roger demonstrated exceptional intelligence, brilliance, and determination, which earned him admission to Cape Academy, a math and science school in Cape Town. He then pursued his education at The University of Cape Town (UCT), where he obtained triple majors in Mathematical Statistics, Computer Science, and Finance.

Roger Bukuru is primarily responsible for the technical aspects of the Lipa Payments operation. He ensures that all technical components of the products are secure and functional.

When not working, Roger finds pleasure in watching sports and movies, as well as spending time outdoors to appreciate nature. He is an avid learner who never ceases to expand his knowledge beyond his work. He has a profound interest in psychology, philosophy, and history, which he actively pursues in his leisure time. Additionally, he takes pleasure in honing his French language skills.

Minenhle , our “Developer of Operations”, at Lipa Payments, he specializes in keeping things running smoothly and adding new features to the Lipa platform. He is a dedicated problem solver who enjoys tackling complex challenges and spends a great deal of time thinking about scaling and optimization. He values usability and believes that technology should be intuitive and user-friendly, built with people in mind. For him, learning and practicing new skills is a great motivator.

He enjoys activities like gaming especially Minecraft and Fortnite and occasionally a casual game of Poker.

Minenhle graduated from UCT with a double major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering with honours in Computer Science.

One project that stands out to him is the process of white-labeling SoftPOS, which involved working with a variety of new frameworks and concepts. Through this experience, he gained a deeper understanding of SoftPOS and was able to develop an efficient white-labeling process.

Overall, he believes that technology should improve people's lives by making things easier and more accessible, rather than creating unnecessary complications.

Tonderai , our “Engineer of Software”, is originally from Zimbabwe but has been in South Africa for 15 years. He has always been a curious person who likes to understand how things function and work. He is particularly interested in problem-solving, and that is what drove him to study engineering. He believes that software development is all about logic, he particularly enjoys software because there are no emotions involved and everything works because of logic.

In his free time, he enjoys listening to music, especially classical music, as he finds it
beautiful how sound can be used to convey messages that are difficult to articulate with words. He is also interested in politics because it helps him to understand how the world around him functions.

He graduated from UCT with a BSc Eng in Mechatronics with Honours.

At Lipa, he is particularly proud of the work he did on the BLE SDK, because it allowed him to open up a black-box, and get to play around with the intricacies that made the SDK function. He made several improvements to the SDK and he was also responsible for documenting it.

Ntuthuko , our InfoSec Engineer, is a driven and dedicated individual with a strong passion for utilizing technology to improve people's lives. His expertise encompasses both hardware and software, and he takes great pleasure in experimenting and tinkering to expand his knowledge. Ntuthuko is particularly drawn to addressing significant global issues, such as education and cybersecurity, through problem-solving.

His extensive skillset includes web development for both frontend and backend/server-side, DevOps, mobile development, IoT development, and desktop development. Recently, Ntuthuko has focused his efforts on payment security, which involves developing secure software, maintaining it, and safeguarding the resources and environment involved.

Ntuthuko graduated from UCT with a double major in Computer Science and Computer Engineering.

During his leisure time, Ntuthuko indulges in various hobbies, including watching sci-fi series, reading, painting, listening to music and podcasts, and playing board games.

One of his proudest accomplishments at Lipa Payments was developing the Saas layer code, which allows for the creation of individual merchant accounts with their isolated resources and data.

If you're interested in exploring the work of our developers in greater detail, you can either browse through our documentation or request access to our SDKs. However, if you're wanting to get more information about our products, we'd be happy to schedule a discussion with you and provide a demonstration. You can also test our products here .

4 Payment Trends Worth Watching In 2023

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:31:05 GMT

The way we pay and the way we buy things is continuously changing thanks to new payment technologies emerging with every passing day. While traditional payment methods aren't going anywhere anytime soon, they will have to respond to customers' desire for flexibility and convenience. In this blog, we offer some trends that we think will likely shape the way people pay for goods and services in 2023.

Contactless payments and mobile wallets

In 2023, it is projected that 85% of individuals aged 16-64 will make monthly payments through their mobile phones, a significant increase from the current rate of 25%. The rise in usage can be attributed to the widespread availability of NFC and contactless-enabled POS terminals, according to Juniper Research.

A mobile wallet is a digital wallet that stores payment and other information on a user's smartphone or tablet, allowing the user to make electronic transactions (such as paying bills, making purchases, and sending money) from their mobile device.The data is stored directly on the device secure element rather than in the cloud, providing enhanced security against unauthorized access. Mobile wallets can be used anywhere with cellphone signal and offer the convenience of instant payment once the app is set up. Popular mobile wallets include Samsung Pay, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.

Despite the steady growth of contactless payments, many people are still unaware of the option to make payments using their mobile phones. Convenience continues to be a driving factor in the adoption of contactless payments.

Buy Now Pay Later

Buy now pay later (BNPL) is a payment option that allows customers to receive their purchase immediately and pay for it in instalments rather than paying the full amount upfront. BNPL companies typically split the payment into equal parts, with the first instalment due at the time of checkout. The popularity of BNPL has been growing and a Juniper Research study estimates that there are currently 360 million BNPL users worldwide, with this number projected to double to 900 million by 2027. Some of the BNPL companies worth watching as they expand include Lipa Later in Kenya, PayFlex in South Africa, LazyPay in India, Klarna in Sweden, and Affirm in the US.

Real-time Cross Boarder Payments

Cross-border payments involve transactions between parties located in different countries. This can occur between individuals, banks, or institutions. As the world becomes increasingly globalized, the need for efficient and transparent cross-border payments is growing. The popularity of real-time cross-border payments has increased due to the rise of e-commerce and global trade. Driving factors include greater demand for fast and efficient payment methods, technological advancements, supportive government initiatives, increased competition among financial institutions, and growth in digital currencies.

If real-time cross-border payments continue to grow as predicted, businesses and consumers will have access to a wider range of fintech companies. This will provide more flexibility and convenience in the financial market.

SWIFT gpi (global payment innovation) instant payment service blends gpi's capabilities with real-time payment networks within countries, creating cross-border payments that are as fast and effortless as domestic ones. Participating banks using SWIFT's service can make and receive cross-border payments in near real-time and beyond typical business hours.

Cryptocurrency Payments

Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency that is not regulated by a central bank. As a global currency, it enables payments free from geographic and banking restrictions.

Cryptocurrency payment gateways provide businesses with the means to accept cryptocurrency payments from customers in exchange for goods or services. The most popular cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Cryptocurrency payments can be made through various channels like online and mobile wallets (eg. Coinbase, Luno and Valr). The increasing recognition of cryptocurrencies and the technology behind them is expected to drive their growing usage, leading to a potential surge in adoption among businesses and individuals. As the crypto sector matures, global regulators are expected to provide clearer guidelines for how cryptocurrencies should be treated. This, combined with new regulations aimed at improving security in the crypto space, will likely result in a rise in the market in 2023.

These developments showcase the rapid evolution of the concept of money. While its value might remain unchanged, the items it can purchase and who can use it is likely to be altered by 2023. The future holds exciting prospects for how we pay for things and what impact this might have.

If there are any topics you would like us to cover or if you're interested in collaborating with us, please email us at marketing@lipapayments.com .

From Teller queues to ATM queues

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:34:01 GMT

The Automated Teller Machine, commonly referred to as the ATM, has played an instrumental role in enabling after-hours cash distribution and reducing the queues inside banks.

The earliest version of an ATM was the Bankograph, an automated deposit machine (accepting coins, notes and cheques) that did not have cash dispensing features. The first cash dispensing ATM was installed on the 27 June 1967, in Enfield Town, London, by Barclay’s Bank. South Africa had its first ATM installed in 1977 by the United Building Society (Later United Bank, now part of ABSA).

Globally, the average ATM gets used approximately 300 times a month and can be used for different types of transactions with withdrawals being the most common type of transaction. Other transaction types include deposits, making payments, checking bank balances and sending or receiving money. ATMs are available 24/7 to customers and are located in convenient locations allowing customers to have easy access to cash.

Before ATMs, all transactions required individuals to walk into a bank branch and queue for assistance from a human bank teller during office hours. This meant that people had to withdraw all the cash they required before bank tellers close for the day. ATMs also helped reduce the queues found inside bank branches as simple deposits and withdrawals could now be performed outside of the branch.

Many years later, the famous bank teller queues now stretch far beyond the doors of the bank as ATM queues continue to exist. Cash remains an important part of how many South Africans transact in their daily lives. In 2016 South Africa had more ATM’s than any other country in Africa with 29,643 ATMs.

Countries like Nigeria, make use of "Human ATMs" which aim to reduce queues through decentralised cash disbursement agents and merchants.

According to the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2019: money agents have 7 times more reach than ATM's and 20 times more reach than bank branches. This provides the underserved and underbanked population more access to money and financial services. In 2020 MTN signed up more than 280,000 MoMo (MTN Mobile Money) agents in Nigeria, their biggest market. Besides offering mobile money services, most agents are merchants who sell goods such as groceries and electronics.

The rise of softPOS unlocks new opportunities and possibilities to enable more merchants to become "human ATM's" and help drive financial inclusion across the African continent.

You can demo our Lipa SoftPOS here or request a demo .

African Fintech Landscape 2022

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 14:13:20 GMT

African fintech is in a state of constant growth, this is due to the the rapid growth of mobile penetration and use in the continent. This has also given rise to a large number of startups that have generated a wide range of new employment opportunities.

The fintech sector continues grow at an extraordinary rate in Africa. According to the UN, over half the global population growth through 2050 will come from Africa, making it world’s fastest-growing population.

How does softPOS benefit merchants?

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:10:37 GMT

Software Point of Sales better known as softPOS can be used by all types and size of a business. With softPOS a merchant can turn any Android mobile phone into a POS machine and start accepting contactless payments.

SoftPOS addresses a number of problems that merchants might face on a day-to-day basis.

More transaction methods, more customers.

Merchants can now boost their offerings and payment methods to their customers. Merchants can accept contactless payments more cost-effectively and simply. Merchants that could only accept cash because of the hardware being expensive can now start accepting card and contactless payment methods.

A more secure way of accepting payments.

A softPOS solution has to meet all the security certifications for it to be used. The softPOS technology is regulated by the Payments Cards Industry (PCI) and all major card schemes. They ensure that all transactions and card information are safely stored and transmitted. However, merchants do not have to go through all the payment processes.

Consumers can make small payments with ease on a softPOS without requiring a PIN entry, but a PIN is required when the transactions are larger as it provides additional security.

The cost of hardware and maintenance is a thing of the past.

Merchants do not need to invest in and maintain expensive hardware. By using a mobile phone that they already own, they can start accepting contactless payments almost immediately. Merchants will just need to download a softPOS application and they can start transacting.

Empowers financial inclusion with a more inclusive POS alternative.

SoftPOS gives everyone the freedom to access low-cost, convenient and quick digital payments. With softPOS, merchants can remain relevant and competitive, with very little financial input in the evolving financial world. This is very important for the financial inclusion of small merchants and informal traders.

softPOS is great for merchants that could not afford the maintenance and expenses of traditional POS or mPOS machines. SoftPOS gives everyone the freedom to access low-cost, convenient and fast digital payments directly from their mobile.

At Lipa Payments we believe in the potential of softPOS. If you would like to find out more, contact us or book a demo .

The Evolution of Fintech

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 11:18:32 GMT

Financial Technologies (“Fintech”) refers to the digital, online and mobile technologies that are used to support or enable financial services.

Fintech empowers consumers to take charge of their financial lives, leading to greater financial literacy than ever before.

Examples of fintech sectors include digital lending, insurance, mobile payments, cryptocurrency and blockchain, personal mobile banking, merchant services, etc.

But where and how did fintech start and where is it leading us to?

The Beginning (1858-1866)

The first key event in the evolution of fintech is the establishment of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. The transatlantic telegraph cable made instantaneous communication between the major markets possible.

First Money Transfer (1918)

Fedwire invented in the USA enabled the first electronic money transfer using Morse Code and connecting 12 Federal Banks by telegraph.

The Origin of the Credit Card (1914-1968)

1914: The US Western Union introduced metal cards, giving deferred payment options to certain customers, this became known as “metal money”.
1950: The Diners Club introduced the first universal credit card, these were plastic payment cards aimed at diners specifically. By the end of 1950 200 000 people were using Diners Club.
1958: American Express introduced its first charge card.
1966: The first credit card was issued by Barclay known as the Barclaycard, in the UK.
1968 Eurocard International and MasterCard International entered into a strategic alliance. This allowed for other cards to be accepted on each other's network, which meant that MasterCard could get an instant European acceptance network and EuroCard could get accepted worldwide.

ATMs (1967)

In 1967, the world got its first ATM installed by Barclays in London and by 1984, the number of ATMs installed worldwide totalled 100,000.

The Beginning of Digital (1971 – 1990)

1971: The NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) was established in the USA, the world's first digital stock exchange.
1973: SWIFT is established in Brussels to solve the problem of communicating payments across borders. SWIFT is to this day the most commonly used communication protocol between financial institutions facilitating the large volume of cross-border payments.

During this time the use of the Internet started to rise and this led to the creation of digital banking platforms.

Digital Banking (2000 & 2006)

PayPal was created as the result of a merger between Confmity and X.com which took place in March 2000. The first online payment system. Consumers can now be more flexible and manage their money a lot better due to internet banking.

By 2006, 80% of the banks offered internet banking.

Card Payment Security (2004)

2004: The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) was formed. Originally began as five different programs: Visa Card Information Security Program, MasterCard Site Data Protection, American Express Data Security Operating Policy, Discover Information, and Compliance, and the JCB Data Security Program.

Each company intended to create an additional level of protection for card issuers by ensuring that merchants meet minimum levels of security when they store, process, and transmit cardholder data. These companies aligned their policies and formed the PCI DSS.

Global Financial Crisis (2007 – 2008)

2008: The Global Financial Crisis refers to the period of extreme stress in global financial markets and banking systems.

The Global Financial Crisis was the catalyst for the sudden increase in fintech start-ups.

The Birth of Bitcoin (2009)

The first version of Bitcoin emerged and further on more cryptocurrencies were born fueled by blockchain technology.

Major Fintech Advancements (2011 – 2017)

2009: Venmo is launched and allows customers to transfer money via a mobile phone.
2011-2014: Google Wallet and Apple Pay is released allowing consumers to make payments with their Smartphone using NFC.
2015: The first digital-only bank Atom is launched in the UK, at the same time Stripe a payment service provider started gaining widespread popularity.
2017: Alibaba introduces Smile Pay Service where one pays by smiling at a 3D camera.

The Future (Now)

With the world currently recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic a lot is set to change and may be unclear for most. However, in the future of fintech, we expect a rise in blockchain-enabled solutions and mobile payments.

Lipa Payments aim to make contactless payments accessible to everyone in Africa using BLE and NFC technology.

The fintech industry is rapidly evolving and growing with so many opportunities and discoveries to be made. Lipa Payments is riding the wave of fintech growth enabling fintechs to accept contactless payments with ease.

Why is cash still king?

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 08:33:06 GMT

Cash can be defined as currency as banknotes or coins and is used to exchange goods and services or to pay off debt.

Although it has become less common for people to carry cash because of the growth of payment systems and digital payments, this does not mean that cash isn’t important. Cash is the most accessible, reliable, and accepted form of payment and is used day to day for basic transactions such as purchasing bread or paying for public transport.

Here are five reasons we think cash is still important:

Cash is inclusive

Financial inclusion remains a serious issue in South Africa, and as a country, South Africa has worked to improve the lives of poorer citizens by encouraging citizens to register with banks. However, cash payments remain the most used form of transaction in South Africa, according to The Global Payments Report, by FIS 44% of POS transactions were made with cash in 2020 with Debit card transactions coming in second with 31%.

Keeping cash in circulation allows everyone, regardless of status, age, financial standing, background, and race, to make purchases and contribute to the economy. The complete displacement of cash will only increase financial exclusion.

Cash is universal

Cash can be accepted almost anywhere, anytime, and by all economic players young and old, rich and poor.. Other alternative forms of payments, e.g., card, tap to pay, scan to pay, all rely on some form of technology. Cash is also the preferred method of payment for daily transactions in both developing and under-developed countries. Physical cash is the most widely accepted form of payment. That’s why all businesses accept cash and many businesses only accept cash.

Cash is reliable

Cash does not “crash”. Technology can fail, power outages can happen and loss of internet connectivity can affect a digital payment system. Citizens in rural and underdeveloped areas rely highly on the use of cash, where internet connectivity is often unstable and unreliable.

Cash is secure

Although there is a risk of theft and loss of cash, making purchases with cash still gives merchants the peace of mind that no fraud, tracing, or cybercrime can take place. With the constant improvement and innovation in security, it is almost impossible to counterfeit cash these days. It is more likely to have your card stolen or be involved in cyber crime/online fraud than it is to receive a counterfeit banknote.

Cash is handy

Physical cash can help you out in any situation. As mentioned before, all businesses accept cash and many only accept cash. So, whether your card declines or your smartphone doesn’t have an internet connection, you always have the option to pay with cash. Cash is also convenient for budgeting and not overspending. People often spend more money and purchase items they can’t afford when they’re not using cash.

Cash has its advantages, but with advantages also come disadvantages like theft and loss of cash. For many people, cash is the only way for them to live day-to-day. That’s why we can’t write off the importance of carrying and accepting cash.

Why Lipa Payments is backing Bluetooth in Africa's contactless payments future ?

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 07:37:47 GMT

Contactless payments have taken the world by storm. 50% of Mastercard’s global in-person transactions are contactless and in 2021 Visa processed over 1 Billion contactless transactions .

The current state-of-the-art technologies powering contactless payments, Near Field Communication (NFC) and Quick Response Codes (QR Codes), were discussed in our previous blog titled, “ The technologies driving contactless payments”.

In this blog we will discuss why Lipa Payments is backing Bluetooth in Africa’s contactless payments future. Bluetooth dates back to 1989 and was commonly used to transfer files between two devices and is still commonly used in the connection of wireless headphones and wireless speakers. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) only emerged in 2011 as part of Bluetooth 4.0 to enable very low power applications.

At Lipa Payments, we believe that BLE is the perfect alternative to NFC payments for low-end and low-cost smartphones.

BLE allows the same ease-of-use experienced when using NFC solutions like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Let us take a look at ease-of-use both from a consumer and a merchants perspective.

Consumer perspective - Ease of making payment

Payment transfer solutions like EFT and e-Wallet solutions require users to key-in merchant information such as their 10-digit cellphone number or bank account number in order to make a payment. Typing in a merchant's account number every time you pay is not a seamless payment experience and is not well suited for time-sensitive scenarios, like having to pay at a spaza shop whilst there is a long queue behind you. Mobile solutions using NFC and QR technology address this problem quite well.

Merchant perspective - Ease of receiving payment confirmation

EFT and e-Wallet solutions provide the merchant with limited payment success feedback as the merchant's source of payment confirmation of payment is often not in real-time. Users can send fake e-wallet notifications and fake proof of payment documents. Real-time EFT solves this problem but it is currently an expensive option for low-value transactions (Real-time, low-cost central-bank payment infrastructure like the Rapid Payments Programme in South Africa can address this challenge).

Mobile solutions using NFC technology provide a merchant with feedback on payment success as the transaction is processed on the merchant-side.

QR differs from NFC based mobile payments because a consumer requires online connectivity as the payment is processed on the consumer device instead of the merchant device. QR codes are a unidirectional communication mechanism. This means that two devices cannot communicate back and forth with QR as is possible with NFC.

This means that after a consumer's device scans a merchant’s QR code, the consumer must have mobile data and connectivity to go online and process the payment. The merchant's device then has to also connect to the internet to check if the payment was successful otherwise the merchant would have to trust the "proof of payment" which is displayed on the consumer's app (not the best user-experience).

We also believe that BLE will enable new payment experiences all together.

BLE has the potential to enable new payment experiences that NFC and QR cannot. Imagine a group of friends at a restaurant or a nightclub all paying for their portion of the bill directly from their smartphones all at the same time. No more waiting for the card machine to be passed around and for every person to enter their pass code. With BLE this is possible. With BLE we will enable a church congregation of more than 500 people to pay at the same time with ease.

At Lipa Payments we are re-imagining what it means to transition away from cash and towards becoming a cashless society.

If you would like to find out more, contact us or book a demo .

Lipa Payments secures R10 million investment for contactless payments platform for informal sector

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 05:42:03 GMT

Lipa (pronounced Lee-puh) partners with banks and fintechs to enable affordable, accessible and fast payments for merchants, even if they have low-end mobile phones. It’s also safer and more hygienic than dealing in cash.

Developed in 2019 by fintech entrepreneurs Thando Hlongwane and Roger Bukuru, the Lipa Payments solution has secured a R10 million investment from Empowerment Capital’s Imvelo Ventures, which is backed by Capitec Bank. Lipa Payments was one of the finalists in Capitec Bank’s Life 2.0 Hackathon in 2020.

Owning just a low-end smartphone, even if it does not have near-field communication (NFC) capabilities means that merchants can accept either phone-to-phone payments (using Bluetooth technology) or a bank-card payment directly on their smartphones (using NFC technology).

“We see tech as a scalable tool to solve everyday challenges. Lipa Payments solves two. First, we give small-scale merchants low-cost technology to accept digital payments at the point of sale and secondly, we allow buyers of goods and services to pay digitally without having to worry about cash or network coverage,” said CEO and Co-Founder of Lipa Payments, Thando Hlongwane.

To date, there is limited infrastructure to support digital payments at local spaza shops, hair salons or fast food stores and most micro-merchants can’t afford to purchase Point of Sale (POS) devices. For banks and fintechs, the distribution and maintenance of POS devices can be costly.

“Informal sector merchants have traditionally relied on customers having cash on hand to transact, but Lipa Payments is changing that. There are obvious constraints to trading with cash and it is only getting more difficult in a digital, cashless global economy,” said Roger Bukuru, Co-CEO and co-founder of Lipa Payments.

Research carried out as part of Mastercard’s 2020 State of Pay report, conducted across 14 different countries, found that people are moving away from using cash. The last two years have been fertile years for fintech start-ups in South Africa with the move to a digital economy accelerating at the start of the pandemic.

However, few fintech start-ups are focused on the potential at the bottom of the income pyramid, but for Hlongwane and Bukuru, returning to their roots and driving financial inclusion for the lower income market was a no-brainer.

The Lipa Payment’s duo plans to roll-out their Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution across South Africa and Nigeria in 2022.

“We have always wanted to solve the problems that informal sector merchants face. It’s been a journey of finding the solution to the question: ‘How can we bring them into a digital payments space,” concluded Hlongwane.

StatsSA’s Q4 2020 Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that around 2.5 million South Africans are part of the informal economy (non-agricultural) and the number of people in informal employment has increased since 2013.

Whether selling goods and services from a taxi rank, a spaza shop or a dirt road in a rural village, Lipa’s digital solution for merchants of the informal economy allows them to be financially included in the digital economy of the future.

If you want to learn more about Lipa Payments and our products, contact us on hello@lipapayments.com or book a demo.

Beating load-shedding with Lipa Payments

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 07:22:04 GMT

Every South African knows about load shedding and for many it means getting out the candles or back-up lamps and making sure our gadgets are charged, at least. That’s what more than a decade of rolling blackouts (with more to come) have taught us.

But for small business owners it’s much more than that. For those who cannot afford a generator it means lost production and sales and lots of anxiety. Many merchants have to revert to a cash-only system as point of sale devices are dependent on electricity to work. You would think that in 14 years we would have developed full-proof solutions to overcome this challenge but the options like a UPS or generator can get expensive for a small business owner.

In a nutshell load shedding means a loss of income – most merchants and small businesses are not able to accept other forms of payment other than cash if their POS, card or mobile POS (mPOS) machine are down. For those two and half hours (sometimes longer) of scheduled load shedding, small business owners have to find alternative, innovative ways to retain customers and income.

There are a number of reasons why a POS, card and mPOS machine could stop working during load shedding. Without a generator there will be no electricity to power these devices and although most portable card machines have batteries, they don’t last forever and could run out before the power comes back on. Load shedding in your area also means a loss of connectivity to your cellular provider – most card and mPOS machines rely on internet connectivity to function.

While contactless and digital payments are increasingly becoming the preferred method for transacting, it makes it extremely difficult for someone owning a corner store to operate fully during load shedding.

The best way forward for small businesses is to adopt the new technologies and methods that are available to assist with the inconvenience of load shedding.

We at Lipa Payments have developed a tap-to-pay, phone-to-phone payment method that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) called Lipa BLE. Lipa BLE is built to accommodate merchants and consumers that have low-end mobile phones that are Bluetooth enabled but have no NFC, allowing for sales to be concluded anywhere at any time.

Lipa Payments also acknowledges that many parts of Africa experience low internet connectivity and that this could cause problems when making a payment. Lipa BLE allows transactions to be processed even when there is no connectivity, accommodating merchants that are situated in low connectivity areas.

Now whether there is load shedding or poor connectivity, merchants can process transactions seamlessly and never miss out on a sale.

If you want to learn more about Lipa Payments and our products, contact us on hello@lipapayments.com or book a demo.

The technologies driving contactless payments.

marketing@lipapayments.com (Lipa Payments) — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 10:58:31 GMT

Contactless Payments are taking the world by storm.
In-person payments have become frictionless thanks to two popular payment technologies, namely Near Field Communication (NFC) and Quick Response codes (QR codes).

The "Tap to Pay"' or "Tap and Go" or "Tap on Phone" solutions in the market today make use of NFC. NFC is a set of protocols for communication between two electronic devices over a short distance and has been around since the early 2000s.

In the early days, the technology did not gain nearly as much popularity as did RFID tags which are commonly used in access control cards. More recently the "Tap and Go" experience that exists in access-control environments has become a popular payment experience in the public transit sector due to the speed and convenience it offers commuters.

The "Scan to Pay" solutions in the market today make use of QR codes. QR Codes are two-dimensional barcodes that represent data in a visual, machine-readable form. QR codes were commonly used to store and read URL addresses before becoming a popular payment experience.

Some banking mobile apps offer both NFC and QR code payment options because each technology comes with its strengths and weaknesses.

One of the benefits of NFC is that consumers can make use of their contactless bank card to pay a merchant which means consumers do not require an “app” or mobile data to make a payment. Another benefit of NFC is that those consumers who forget their wallet and bank card at home can now pay with their smartphone or smart-watch thanks to NFC.

One of the downsides associated with NFC is that NFC penetration rates across rural and township communities is very low. Most low-end and low-cost smartphones do not provide NFC capabilities. Another downside associated with NFC is that countries like Nigeria still have a small number of banks that have moved their customers onto contactless NFC bank cards, making NFC a largely inaccessible technology currently for informal markets in Africa.

Fortunately QR code payments are more accessible as they only require a working camera with basic image focus capabilities. Another benefit of QR code payments is that merchants can print a static QR code and place it near their till, enabling merchants to accept payments whilst offline.

The main downside with QR codes is that it is one-way communication. This means that even when two devices are involved in the QR code payment, the device displaying the QR code can only display information to the scanning device but cannot perform back-and-forth communication which is often used to share the response data for a transaction. This means that a merchant's device does not receive confirmation of the payment unless the merchant has access to an internet connection or the merchant can verify the purchase on the consumer's smartphone whilst being on the opposite side of a store counter.

In the pursuit of a contactless payment experience as great as NFC but as inclusive as QR, we built and patented a solution that can work just like NFC but that is powered by Bluetooth which is a more accessible technology.

Bluetooth dates back to the 90s while Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) only emerged in 2011 as part of Bluetooth 4.0 to enable very low power applications. Bluetooth was commonly used to transfer files between two devices and is still commonly used in the connection of wireless headphones and wireless speakers.

At Lipa Payments, we believe that Bluetooth Low Energy is the perfect alternative to NFC payments for low-end and low-cost smartphones. We also believe that BLE will enable new payment experiences that NFC cannot offer due to its proximity restriction.

We will discuss more on this topic in our upcoming blog post: "Why Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)? ". Subscribe to our community newsletter to get updates when we release new blog posts.

If you want to learn more about Lipa Payments and our products, contact us on hello@lipapayments.com or book a demo .

How Lipa Payments plans on expanding the world of contactless payments.

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 12:55:38 GMT

According to Visa, in 2020, contactless payments accounted for more than a third of the world’s face-to-face Visa transactions.

Contactless payments have unlocked new payment experiences for consumers and merchants. Consumers can now pay with their smart-watches, leaving their bank cards at home and merchants can ditch the clunky payment terminal and accept card payments directly from their mobile phone.

We’re excited to introduce Lipa Payments to the world. Lipa Payments builds payment software solutions for banks and fintech's. Banks and fintech’s can integrate our payment software solutions into their existing solutions, to enable secure and accessible and frictionless payment experiences for their merchants and consumers.

Using Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology we have built payment solutions that allow merchants to accept card payments with no need for additional hardware terminals or attachments.

The questions we at Lipa ask ourselves every single day is, “How can we make digital payments as simple as paying with cash?”

It is a well-known fact that micro-merchants in many parts of Africa transact almost entirely in cash with very few merchants providing digital payment acceptance solutions to their consumers. Lipa’s mission is to help transition Africa away from cash by creating payment solutions that are accessible and simple to use.

Understanding the challenges of internet connectivity in many township and rural areas, Lipa Payments technology has been optimized to work well in low-connectivity environments.

Lastly, understanding the limited penetration of NFC in low-end smartphones, we built and patented a more inclusive alternative, powered by Bluetooth Low Energy which we will discuss in more detail in a future blog.

Lipa Payments was founded in 2019 and is backed by Imvelo Ventures which is a venture capital fund started by Capitec Bank Limited and is managed by Empowerment Capital Investment Partners.

We're excited to make contactless payments simpler and more accessible. Let's get started.

If you want to learn more about Lipa Payments and our products, contact us on hello@lipapayments.com or book a demo.

Lipa Payments Blog

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Webhooks:

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Read more in our Fintech in Africa Landscape 2022 eBook.

How does softPOS benefit merchants?

The Evolution of Fintech

Why is cash still king?

Here are five reasons we think cash is still important:

Why Lipa Payments is backing Bluetooth in Africa's contactless payments future ?

Lipa Payments secures R10 million investment for contactless payments platform for informal sector

Beating load-shedding with Lipa Payments

The technologies driving contactless payments.

How Lipa Payments plans on expanding the world of contactless payments.