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

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

Rapid transformation in the digital payments sector - the growth of e-commerce and digital payments in South Africa.