If you’re a small business owner and you haven’t yet heard of Halo Dot, then you soon will. What first began as a project is now a fully-fledged business.

The vision behind Halo Dot is a world where consumers can make payments is easier than ever before. And where merchants make sales faster and trust that the money is transferred safely. And that’s not all… the technology behind the payment system seeks to break through barriers to allow everyone access to the economy.

Behind these lofty goals are two pragmatic men, Pierre Aurel -  Head of Payments, and Craig Leppan – Business Development Lead. Along with their team, they have developed SoftPOS technology – an innovative contactless payment solution. Halo Dot makes sales faster, more convenient, and frictionless.

Two sides to a payment story: where does Halo Dot fits in?

The payment system is two-fold; on one side is the merchant who makes sales, and the other side is the consumer who makes the payment via contactless card from their  bank. Halo Dot is the acquiring technology provided to merchants that enables them to accept payments on their mobile phones.

Where previously, a merchant would invest in a point-of-sale (POS) device to receive payment, now Halo Dot is changing the landscape by providing them with a digital app for their mobile device. The customer merely taps the merchants phone, and the merchant is paid safely and securely.

Transitioning over borders

What is exciting about Halo Dot is that it is not constrained to local markets, it has international appeal. This is thanks to the ubiquitous nature of many card payment systems. “If you think about it, your debit or credit cards are global and are traded on the ability that consumers can cross borders and their card will work in most countries around the world,” says Leppan.

He adds that what’s exciting is that the South Africa company can offer a world-class product as its technology stands up to international counterparts. “We know that we can compete in global markets thanks to our superior quality and service.”

Aurel adds, “We have deep experience in cryptography, enabling us to encrypt and secure data all the way from mobile Apps through to cloud computing environments. This has been a long journey and we’ve built the experience over 15 years of working closely with South African banks in payment cryptography. Halo Dot is not a simple or easy to develop app, it offers end-to-end encryption that is trusted by top financial institutions both locally and abroad. We are futureproofing our solutions with security as a fundamental base.”

Why is the future an App that turns a smartphone into a card machine?

When we look at the sale of smart phones, the adoption rates on the graph are a straight up trajectory. The world adopted the device widely, it’s a supercomputer that includes a calculator, a watch and alarm clock, a phone book, various apps that help you digitalise these things. There should be no difference when adding a credit card/s to the list. Why not carry a wallet around in your phone too. There is no limit of what you can do with a smart phone. The chip and pin makes that possible.

The recent Apple announcement of ‘tap to mobile’ – which is what Halo is, is a giant opportunity for Halo Dot. “Apple becomes the best at whatever it is they set out to do. Apple has an incredible way of simplifying things so that consumers really ‘get it.’ The brand also brings brand trust, and we expect that adoption will increase very quickly. Its exciting times for tap-on-phone.

Boosting financial inclusion

Halo Dot is working on a future model for the under-banked that includes payments on a more inclusive level. Why can’t payments be made easier at spaza shops? Why not pay a car guard using a QR code? How about taxi fares being paid by card? Or what about consumers being offered loyalty programmes rewarded with airtime? These are the questions that keep the Halo Dot team up at night.

The future is instant commerce

Aurel concludes, “Soon the lines will be blurred between online and physical payments. The trend is that many small businesses start online and move to physical locations where they will accept payment face-to-face. This is where tap-on-phone really enables merchants to accept payment quickly, easily, and safely. So we’ll see the barriers to trading  being removed. Instant payments will be driven by high volume and low value. This will be an instant commerce environment – where all you need is a smart phone to trade.”