26 th June 2023

 Own Correspondent

Absa Bank Botswana Limited (Absa) has introduced the first of its kind Soft Point of Sale (SoftPOS) also known as the Tap on Glass payment solution.

The Absa Mobi Tap offering is a soft POS Solution, which allows merchants and Micro and Small Medium Enterprises to use their Smart phones in place of traditional Point-of-Sale (POS) devices to process contactless card transactions.

“It is for the first time in Botswana that merchants will be able to accept payments by customers simply by tapping their cards on android devices as opposed to traditional point of sale terminals, which will transform the way business owners operate,” said Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane, Managing Director of Absa Bank Botswana.

She said, “Our excitement is that Botswana is one of six African countries, including Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles where Absa is first-to-market with the Absa Mobile Pay solution.  The Absa Mobi Tap solution will transform the way merchants will conduct business digitally using their Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled Smart Devices on the Go and bring the much-needed convenience that we all want.”

This solution essentially transforms commercial off-the-shelf NFC smartphones and tablets into secure contactless payment terminals that require no additional hardware, plug-ins, card-readers, or dongles to accept PIN protected card payments, which also means lower costs.

This is also a quick win for businesses who do not have immediate access to physical POS terminals, as payments can be accepted anywhere, anytime via their NFC enabled Smart devices.

• The Absa Mobi Tap app is downloaded by the merchant from Google store and the Huawei App Gallery.
• The Bank will bind the App to the Smart Device along with a Merchant Account to secure the transaction flow
• The merchant will be able to accept payment from cardholders on their Smart NFC devices via Tap on Glass Functionality. 
• Cardholders will be allowed a maximum cumulative value of P1,000.00 for Contactless PINLESS transactions a day with a threshold of P300.00 per transaction.
• For payments above the P300 threshold, cardholders will be prompted to enter their PIN.
• Payment confirmation will be sent to both cardholders and merchants either through SMS or email notification.
• No paper receipts will be produced

With customers increasingly demanding to pay with cards in places where this has not traditionally been the case, such as taxi associations, home and repair services, sports venues, flea markets, Exhibitions, Farmers Market etc., this solution will enable Customers to conduct financial transactions in a more versatile manner without having to be tethered to a single location.

This will improve customer experience by speeding up service and wait times. It also has greater versatility compared to traditional POS terminals and is therefore ideal for businesses that need to conduct credit card and debit card transactions on the go.

Absa Botswana’s Retail Director, Valeta Mthimkhulu –said: "Despite the challenges we've faced this past year, as a country and a global community, Absa hasn't stopped finding new ways to make our merchant and customers' lives easier, in whatever way we can. That's why we're launching the Absa Mobi Tap, an ultra-modern and digitally driven product that will change the way merchants do business."

Another key benefit of this SoftPOS run application is lower recurring fixed costs, as there is no need for any additional hardware procurement. All transactions carried out through the Absa Mobi Tap solution will be just as secure as on a "classic" POS device.

For the first time in Botswana, merchants will be able to accept payments by customers simply tapping their cards on mobile smart devices as opposed to traditional point of sale terminals, which will transform the way business owners operate.

John D’Souza – Head of Cards and Lending said “This is a huge step towards getting the economy digitized and we are happy to support the nation’s push towards driving digital transactions. The Bank is very much interested in the Financial Inclusion use case by availing this solution to the non-traditional segment of Street vendors, Hawkers and Individuals having side hustles.”

Absa's key focus is the drive towards digital-first solutions, particularly solutions that are digitally agile and responsive to our customers' needs.