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

Three waves of COVID-19 over the past 18 months, and a fourth one looming, have all but devastated the South African economy. The unemployment rate is at a record high of 34.4%, according to Stats SA, and a TransUnion study shows that 62% of consumers are impacted financially as a result of the pandemic – 87% of whom are concerned about paying their bills. Add to this the dramatic rise in ecommerce driven by the pandemic, and the time is ripe for alternative payment solutions

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

Africa is leading the way in mobile money, and it will change banking as we know it By Mark Dankworth, President International at Ukheshe Technologies Mobile transacting is fast becoming the golden egg of financial services – and nowhere more so than in Africa. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications’ (GSMA) 2021 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, the number of registered mobile money accounts grew by 12.7% globally in 2021 to 1.21 billion accounts

Leading fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with Chipper, one of Africa’s most valuable startups, to enhance and accelerate the rollout out of Chipper’s digital payment offerings. These include free and unlimited P2P payments across South Africa, value-added services such as airtime and data and the ability to legally buy, sell or transfer cryptocurrency. The partnership will also allow for more efficient transactions across Africa

Getting a start-up business off the ground is not easy. You need to hustle hard to find the capital, attract customers and feel your way around what might be a new industry to you. With all the hard work put into establishing your business, efforts to network among peers and gain visibility may fall by the wayside. Participating in a start-up competition can give your company the boost it needs to ‘get a foot in the door’. Your company doesn’t even need to win for it to be a

Leading fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with global next-generation card solutions and digital security company, dzcard. The partnership will enhance dzcard’s customisable solutions for various digital ecosystems and locations. The partnership will leverage Ukheshe’s Eclipse API platform and its market leading digital payments solutions, allowing both companies to deliver digital strategies within their respective markets. Dono

Even with a high banked population and a multitude of electronic payment options available, the average South African still use cash for daily purchases and payments with an estimated 78-80% of transactions being in cash. Anton van der Merwe, the recently-appointed COO of Ukheshe Technologies, a fintech enablement partner that works with financial institutions to grow in the rapidly-expanding digital space, says that for these reasons alone, the opportunities for digital paym

The rapid growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies caught regulators by surprise. Since then, regulators have formed stronger positions, and even in some cases, legislation on how to regulate cryptocurrencies within established markets. Speculation abounds and currencies like bitcoin have been used as a diversification strategy to avoid relying on fiat currencies. There is likely to be a lot of evolution as cryptos become accepted as a payment mechanism, but this depends on bl

QR codes are facilitating mobile payments for more users around the globe than ever before. The reason? They’re fast, safe, efficient, and most importantly, are available to the vast majority of consumers thanks to QR code functionality built into most smartphones.  As a result, QR code payments have become the norm in Southeast Asia, particularly in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In China, QR-enabled mobile payments have largely displaced cash as

Ukheshe started with a humble proposition: bring electronic payments to the unbanked. As Ukheshe grew, it saw the broader issue: it’s not just that many people are unbanked; many financial institutions don’t have the digital means to engage with more modern audiences. When it comes to using QR codes, USSD payments, mobile apps, web interfaces and such, most banks find it too complicated. They have to coordinate the services of multiple providers and vendors, all while navigat

1 min read. Eclipse is built and operated by Ukheshe based on hundreds of man-years of experience in the financial services, telecoms and payments arena. The goal of the platform is to provide a set of powerful APIs covering everything from customer and organisation management to digital wallets, payment gateways, card issuing, card acceptance, bank integration, authentication, KYC, QR code acceptance/payments and numerous other capabilities required by most fintech propositi

2 min read. Ukheshe, Mastercard, Nedbank and Telkom collaborate to grow access to the digital economy with a virtual product that enables secure e-commerce payments on the phone Telkom has launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments. This move is expected to empower millions of South Africans – even those without a bank account – to access the digital economy and transact online. Launched in 20

1 min read. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Hub71, Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem, announces its first cohort of 2021, selecting 16 tech startups from 11 countries and seven sectors out of 150 applicants to join its vibrant community. The number of successful applications reflects an 11 per cent success rate that led to Hub71 selecting its first startups from India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mauritius and South Africa, in addition to its first SpaceTech startup, following the

2 min read. Leading South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies will expand its footprint into the Asia-Pacific region as it introduces innovative digital-first payment solutions via key partnerships in what is emerging as a lucrative growth market for the B2B payment technology specialist. The move comes as Ukheshe continues to build on its solid reputation as a trusted enablement partner, having established relationships with financial service pl

1 min read. The gig economy – characterized by the prevalence of flexible independent contractors, as opposed to permanent jobs – is growing at a rapid pace worldwide. According to Mastercard’s white paper on The Gig Economy in East Africa, this global economy is currently sized at $193 billion and increasing at a projected annual rate of 17.4%. By the end of 2023, it is forecast to be worth $455 billion. Technology, with its rapid advancements in digital offerings allowing p

2 min read. Leading South African digital-first fintech enabler, Ukheshe Technologies has announced the appointment of Anton Coertzen as President of Strategic Partnerships. Coertzen will be responsible for growing the business through key partnerships which complement the company’s business development and product innovation strategy. The appointment comes as Ukheshe continues to entrench its position as a formidable payment technology specialist within the B2B sector. Follo

1 min read. A recent Accenture report for North America noted that “incumbents must embrace collaboration and understand that, when it comes to the question of whether fintechs are friends or foes in retail payments – they are both.” In an ever-changing digital payments landscape, fintechs are able to provide solutions that enable payments to happen in a dynamic way that is both effective and convenient for the end customer. If an organisation, like a bank or telco, perceives

2 min read. In a region still dominated by cash and mobile money options, like M-Pesa, new collaborations between fintechs are looking to capture the price-sensitive market with innovative, open-loop digital payment solutions in East Africa. According to Mark Dankworth, President International, Ukheshe Technologies, the region is poised for a surge in digital banking growth, with the likes of MCQR and virtual cards likely to make the biggest impact. This follows the Kenyan re