The technopreneur founding team behind Yoco consists of Katlego Maphai (managing director), Carl Wazen (commercial director), Bradley Wattrus (financial director) and Lungisa Matshoba (technology and product director).

Yoco is the easiest way for SMEs in South Africa to securely accept card payments at the store, or on the go. It offers businesses a choice of two mobile card readers that connect to a phone or tablet (iOS and Android) and transform it into a card acceptance terminal.

Yoco’s solution is designed for businesses that want to accept card payments quickly and simply. Because Yoco runs from a phone or tablet, a merchant only needs a device and an Internet connection to operate it. For the first time in South Africa, a business or seller of any size can offer their customers the convenience of paying by card – ensuring they never have to miss a sale again.

The solution goes beyond payment processing in that it includes a free point-of-sale app that lets businesses record card or cash payments, track which of their items are selling and manage their staff.

In addition, they provide access to a free business intelligence dashboard, the Yoco Business Portal, which gives merchants access to extensive business intelligence from their transactional data, enabling business owners to monitor business performance and conduct business administration.

Yoco solves the problem of access and provides these small businesses with a basic point-of-sale and business analytics service. A young business can easily find itself working off paper to track sales. With Yoco a business owner is able to use the real time data generated by payments to analyse key trading times, staff sales performance and other key information, which they can use to run their business more efficiently and strategically.

Because the information is stored in the cloud, a merchant is able to access key business insights anywhere, anytime. It can also be exported into software that is compatible with those used by their bookkeepers,” says Maphai.

Hundreds of thousands of SMEs and sole traders in South Africa don’t accept cards because services such as these are traditionally only offered by banks. Applying for a credit card machine can be lengthy, complicated and expensive making it prohibitive for small business owners to access.

“With over 75% card penetration among adults in South Africa, a lack of technology service to this market is a factor holding back the growth of the SME sector,” says Wattrus. “The traditional card machine fees are prohibitive for smaller businesses and the institutions place a lot of weight on trading history and steady transaction revenues to assess risk. Many of these businesses have to wait weeks to get a card terminal from a traditional institution,” adds Wattrus.

“Any business can sign up for Yoco online and they can be up and running within four working days. You don’t need a sales history to qualify and 90% of applicants meet the criteria to qualify, which is the highest approval rate in the country,” he continues.

“Since the introduction of mobile point of sale devices across the globe, accepting payments by card has been made substantially easier, cheaper and more convenient. And they have the same level of security as standard point of sale devices,” adds James Simpson, Country Manager for Visa in South Africa.

Other benefits of using Yoco, as opposed to a traditional card terminal, is that merchants can link it to their own bank account, they are not locked into a contract, they purchase the reader so they own it and are therefore not liable for penalties if it needs to be replaced, there are no monthly charges and all fees are fully transparent. No complicated equipment, installation and training are required to manage point-of-sale payments with Yoco.

Yoco’s card readers are also small enough to fit in a merchant’s pocket and because it is fully mobile, will still operate during load shedding. Merchants have the option of purchasing a plug-in reader that connects to the phone or tablet’s headphone jack, for R1299 or a wireless Bluetooth unit for R1999. The plug-in reader is ideal for taking payments on the go; the wireless reader works beautifully for payments on the go, or at the counter, as it includes an optional counter stand for shops and restaurants.

November marks the third year of the venture. Maphai, Wazen and Wattrus first began discussing the opportunities for such a platform in South Africa in 2012, after being inspired by the success of similar technologies in America such as Square. Lungisa Matshoba joined as a co-founder in early 2013 when Yoco incorporated.

A period of successful lobbying resulted in Mercantile Bank, a South African bank granting them their license to operate as a payment facilitator, a fantastic achievement for a startup in South Africa’s highly controlled banking environment.

Once Yoco was granted the license, they closed a funding round with international angel investors. In the meantime, they had refined a customer-focused business model and laid out their plans for incubating the business. Once the product was developed, they recruited their core team and got the platform fully certified by Visa and MasterCard.

Yoco is now out of beta and is available to any merchant in South Africa that wishes to accept card. It has the security stamp from the card payment networks Visa and MasterCard and has the validation of hundreds of merchants across South Africa, and is adding over 100 new merchants every month.

In addition to boasting some known brands as merchants, such as Truth Coffee Roasting, Sushibox, Honest Chocolate, Bacon on Bree, Yoco has managed to tap into previously unchartered merchant territory. Its youngest merchant is a 14-year-old entrepreneur; its oldest is an 85-year-old woman who sells her hand-made jams at markets.

“Every aspect of the product, features, and elements of the design is focused on giving the merchant the best customer experience – this is what makes us unique,” concludes Maphai.

Yoco is based in Loop Street, Cape Town in the heart of the financial district but operates nationwide. They currently employ 21 individuals.

For more information, visit www.yoco.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, on Twitter or on Instagram using the #HelloYoco hashtag.