Chat commerce is undoubtedly the way of the future, according to Pieter de Wet, President Business Development: International Markets at leading pan-African fintech enablement partner Ukheshe Technologies. “Ukheshe’s own Eclipse Chat Commerce solution offers everything a business needs – not only now, but also as an organisation grows.” Consumers are making a rapidly increasing portion of their purchases through chat commerce channels. Juniper Research estimates that sales ma

Last year saw an unprecedented rate of change in the financial sector, with huge growth in the use of digital financial services. A report by CB Insights entitled ‘State of Fintech’ revealed that the third quarter of 2021 was the second-highest on record for fintech financing, up by 147 percent year-on-year, and 2022 is looking like more of the same. Fintechs will continue to drive financial inclusion, assisting in the creation of an accessible and sustainable digital economy

While 2021 was challenging for many businesses and characterised by an economy struggling to get back on its feet after months of lockdown, the digital payments sector experienced a boom. There was a huge need to go digital, payments went contactless and large financial institutions needed digital mobile money propositions, and they needed them fast. Ukheshe was able to meet these needs with innovative product offerings and has in fact grown fourfold during this uncertain yea

Small businesses are contributing a growing slice of South Africa’s economic pie, increasing their contribution to the formal business sector’s total turnover by over 12% year-on-year. Yet few solutions are geared at these merchants. Physical point of sale systems are often unaffordable to them, transactions carry high charges, and the red tape to formalise their business dealings all hamper their economic progress. A new mobile point of sale (mPOS) solution from Telkom, crea

New technology often seems fantastic on paper yet has little impact in the life of the average person. A new tipping solution for fuel pump attendants, however, does both. When asked to fill up a fuel tank as motorists do in the movies, few South Africans would know what to do beyond pulling their tank lever from inside the car. Fuel station attendants are as much a part of our culture as braais and ‘howzit’. And yet, a BusinessTech poll of over 7000 respondents in 2018 showe

The local banking and payment sector is on the cusp of a major leap forward through the introduction of South Africa’s very own Rapid Payment Programme (RPP). Led by BankServAfrica in collaboration with the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), RPP is intended to create a simpler, safer and cheaper instant payment environment. With the support of the SA Reserve Bank, 11 major banks and the broader fintech industry, RPP will allow people to make real-time bank account-t