iKhokha CEO, Matt Putman said, \u201cIn the informal market, prepaid has always been a heavily cash-based service. In this tough economy, our small and medium enterprise (SME) customers are looking for increased security as well as new income streams, so we developed a digital solution called iKhokha Vend<\/strong><\/a>.”<\/p>\n “We have built on our existing retail distribution partnership with the Massmart group which enables SMEs to purchase a card machine in any Game, Builders Warehouse or Makro store nationally. The prepaid partnership now allows us to take advantage of Massmart\u2019s significant buying power with prepaid suppliers, so that we can collectively pass on the additional value to our iKhokha SME merchant base.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe tested the solution with a select group of merchants and recently launched it into the market based on their positive response. iKhokha business owners can diversify their revenue streams while offering their customers a convenient value added service and importantly reduce their burden of holding dangerous levels of cash onsite,\u201d said Putman.<\/p>\n iKhokha was launched in 2015 to increase sales and minimise cash risk in the SME sector by giving entrepreneurs the ability to process card payments and become part of the digital economy. It is now processing more than R4 billion worth of transactions on an annualised basis annually.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people buy airtime and data as and when they need it, so they will pop into the closest store that sells it. They also need to be able to pay utility bills quickly and easily,\u201d said Putman. \u201cWith more than 2,000 iKhokha devices going into the SME sector every month, iKhokha Vend is being taken up very quickly as small business owners realise what a customer drawcard it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Putman continued, \u201cAdding iKhokha Vend to our existing set of financial services products is another step forward in our strategy to expand access to financial services in South Africa and build entrepreneurial businesses.”<\/p>\n “iKhokha also currently provides funding of more than R100 million annually via iKhokha\u2019s merchant cash advance to SMEs that need a capital boost to grow and which are not supported by the mainstream financial services sector. Eighty percent of these businesses would be unable to access capital from the traditional banking sector.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/iK_Vend_Campaign-01.jpg\")
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