In mPOS We Trust

Ordering goods online isn’t always as simple as it seems — especially when it’s not simple to begin with.

Many consumers in places such as Egypt and around Africa and the Middle East face a much more complicated online ordering process than in an eCommerce-as-second-nature country like the U.S., where paying in advance for online orders is the norm. Customers and financial institutions alike around Africa and the Middle East distrust the process of allowing sensitive payment information to get into the hands of online merchants and do not feel comfortable paying online.

That’s where payment service providers, like Cairo, Egypt’s PayMob, come into the picture. The company offers a credit-card-on-delivery solution to online and other delivery-based merchants throughout Africa and the Middle East via mobile payment devices.

PYMNTS recently caught up with Islam Shawky, the company’s founder and CEO, to discuss the solution and the challenges that accompany serving a customer base that still does not trust many modern payment methods.

Here’s a preview:

“In countries like Egypt, many people do not have bank accounts or cards,” Shawky said. “Even those who do have cards, 80 or 85 percent are prepaid or debit cards, and unfortunately, most of the banks do not enable [these] cards to make purchases online.”

Similarly, even consumers who have cards that can be accepted online often do not feel comfortable entering payment information through online shopping portals.

“When we researched, we found that even people who do have cards that can be used don’t trust the website,” Shawky said. “They don’t understand that they are paying through the bank or through a card provider or payment processor. They feel like they are giving their information directly to the seller, and they do not feel comfortable doing that.”

Around the mPOS world

As more people around the world turn to smartphones for wide-ranging personal and business purposes, mPOS providers have recently sought to introduce new mPOS devices to customers around the world, including in countries such as Austria, India, Canada and South Africa.

For example, Spire Payments, TECS and Hobex AG recently rolled out a new mPOS solution for merchants in Austria, while Wirecard AG subsidiary GI Technology recently announced a new partnership with India’s DCB Bank to launch mVisa in the Indian retail market.

Meanwhile, Elavon and talech aimed a new solution at Canadian small and medium-sized businesses. Mastercard also expanded its international reach through a partnership with South African mobile payments startup iKhokha. The two companies will roll out mobile and cashless payments at SMBs around South Africa.

The October edition of the mPOS Tracker features the latest industry news in the mPOS space along with the profiles of more than 200 players, including five new additions to the tracker.

To download the October edition of the PYMNTS mPOS Tracker, click the button below…

About The Tracker

The PYMNTS mPOS Tracker is your go-to resource for staying up to date on a month-by-month basis. The Tracker highlights the contribution of different stakeholders, including institutions and technology coming together to make this happen.