Emerge Mobile, a tech start-up based in the South African town of Durban, has launched a smartphone-based mobile payment card acceptance solution called iKhokha.
Already, iKhokha has been appointed as the first go-to-market vehicle for The Edge, an Emerge Mobile device. The technology allows users to accept card payments using their smartphones. It is a compact and safe chip-and-Pin card reader that plugs in Android or iOS phones.
iKhokha charges retailers a flat rate of 2.75 percent per transaction. The app also enables users to send receipts to their cards via email or SMS. Mobile device owners can use the solution to sell value-added services such as airtime for mobile network operators. There are no monthly charges.
The Edge integrates with iKhokha to transform a smartphone into a safe mobile point-of-sale (MPOS) terminal, hence enabling merchants to process mobile wallet transactions, chip and pin as well as debit and credit card payments.
Emerge Mobile recently acquired EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) and PCI-PTS (Payments Council International Payment Terminal Security) Level 1 and 2 certificates for the solution. The Edge is registered with the Visa Ready Program and MasterCard Mobile MPOS Program, which means that it is being exposed to financial services institutions all over the world.
