Absa POS payment device ready

MARCH 24,2014.

BUSINESSTECH.

Banking group Absa says its mobile point-of-sale (POS) device, the Payment Pebble, is finally ready for public use, following an initial trial period with with pre-selected merchants.

In November 2012,  the bank announced that it has entered into an agreement with Thumbzup for its plug-in pebble device.

The bank was due to launch the product as a value-added service to all small business owners and merchants on-the-go from early 2013; however, because the product has been built in South Africa, for South African use, it needed to jump through several regulatory hoops in order to meet international  standards.

“The Payment Pebble has been available to merchants since late last year on a commercial pilot, but with local production now in full swing it is being made available to the wider public as I type this,” a spokesperson for Absa told BusinessTech.

Nedbank has already launched a mobile point-of-sale solution in February, called PocketPOS, claiming a first for South Africa.

The mobile POS solution enables businesses to process debit and credit card transactions by using a smartphone connected to a secure card reader.