A Stellenbosch-based mobile payment start-up has identified a way to capitalise on near field communication (NFC), a wireless connectivity payment standard that has received mixed reviews worldwide.
Previously predicted as one of the next technologies to boom by research firm Gartner, NFC has failed to live up to the high expectations globally.
NFC is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches.
Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between a NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a "tag".
Gust Pay is a geo-fenced mobile payment experience, created for music and sports events, says Joe Botha, founder of Gust Pay.
According to Botha, users install the Gust Pay app on their phones and link their debit or credit card. "We give users an NFC wristband which users can use to buy food and drinks at events. Users can pay with their phones, or leave their phones at home and pay with the wristband," he notes.
The system allows users to pay with their phones or wristband independently, he says.
To Botha, live music and larger music festivals are the focus at the moment, but sporting events and conferences are also good markets for the payment system.
Events where Gust Pay has been utilised include annual music festival Rocking the Daisies, the Danny Brown Adidas event, outdoor parties, Kinky Disco Cultural festivals, Woordfees and a number of testing events for students in Stellenbosch.
The Gust Pay team consists of Werner van Zyl, co-founder and COO, Jan Pool, co-founder and CTO, Luke Kane-Berman, events manager and Janette Sutherland, office manager.
NFC experiment
Last year, Loftus Versveld Stadium, in Pretoria, became the first stadium in SA to offer spectators NFC-enabled turnstiles and access with the tap of a card.
The paperless NFC ticketing project allowed supporters to purchase their tickets on their mobile phones and then tap their NFC cards to gain access to the stadium.
The NFC turnstile access-control and ticketing systems were installed at all 100 of Loftus' gates. On the first day, about 700 fans, issued with cards containing the game ticket and other event information, successfully used NFC ticketing.
"We are now starting to look at ways of using our wristbands outside the festival context for things like transport, education, government initiatives and everyday payments - pretty much anything you can do with an NFC credit card, and more," concludes Botha.
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