ABSA Bank launches innovative mobile payment device

Launching ABSA Payment Pebble

ABSA Bank is launching a mobile payment acceptance service for businesses in South Africa that works using a mobile phone (view press release). The bank has partnered with a local payments innovation firm called thumbzup to enable businesses and entrepreneurs to accept debit or credit card payments using their smartphones or tablets through a new device called The ABSA Payment Pebble. This will be provided as an added value service to small business owners and merchants on-the-go with availability scheduled for early 2013.

The ABSA Payment Pebble is a small card-reader device that plugs into a 3.5mm audio input on any mobile smartphone or tablet and includes a mobile app that changes into a mobile point-of-sale terminal where merchants can accept card payments in real-time anywhere in South Africa by dipping the card into the Pebble, entering the pin and then following the prompts on the mobile app to conclude the transaction. The app supports chip, pin and magnetic stripe cards and allows both debit and credit card transactions without the need for a power supply.

ABSA Head of Retail Markets, Arrie Rautenbach said:  “It is a game changing innovation with the potential to transform the way in which entrepreneurs can safely accept offsite payments.”

Related reading

Leave a comment