LUXEMBOURG - Research by Sage Payments Landscape Report considers how new payment technologies may affect banks and merchants.
South African consumers are enthusiastic users of new payments technologies, which means that bitcoin and the blockchain may soon be on the radar for some of the country’s early adopters.
Yet, this prospect have led merchants and banks to consider how these technologies may affect their businesses.
File image: IOL
According to research from the Sage Payments Landscape Report, consumers in South Africa place a great deal of importance on businesses adopting safe, progressive payment methods.
The research records that fast and secure payment methods such as PayPal and in-app payments are most likely to make a business appear modern and progressive to consumers.
96% of South African consumers believe that it is crucial that a business offers multiple payment methods.
Positive outlook is seen by mobile payments solutions such as digital wallets enjoying expansive growth as South Africans look for more secure, convenient and easy ways to pay, says Charles Pittaway, Managing Director of Sage Pay, a division of Sage.
This brings about debate of how bitcoin– the digital currency – and blockchain– the technology that enables bitcoin – could transform the payments landscape in South Africa.
The usage of bitcoin has been slow-moving worldwide, relatively due to it being regarded as complex and because it is not widely supported among financial institutions.
”The blockchain offers a fascinating glimpse into how money might be moved around in the future and how transactions might be made more secure, transparent and accountable,” says Pittaway.
File image: IOL
Blockchain works as a global and public ledger without a central database that can be interfered with.
It is a unique permanent record that cannot be distorted, creating a trail of financial DNA.
“Though it’s far from the mainstream, technologies such as blockchain could one day offer compelling answers to the issues of security and fraud we face, in a time of digital invention, business builders must use the smartest technologies to reinvent their payments processes. Those that use trusted, convenient and secure payment mechanisms will win in the digital economy", says Pittaway.