Atiempo SA, a subsidiary of UK-listed information technology (IT) group Core Process International, has developed a terminal that could introduce e-commerce to people living in historically disadvantaged areas, Silva Lichtenstein, the managing director of Atiempo SA, said yesterday.
A major reason for the non-payment of services in poor areas was that it cost money to travel to the nearest municipal office to pay bills, he said.
Atiempo`s terminal system could solve that by making payment facilities available at convenience stores and community centres.
Positioned as an economic empowerment tool and as a more convenient method of shopping, the transactional system, using existing hardware such as credit card devices, ATMs and self-service terminals, would provide value-added services such as prepaid airtime, account payments and ticket sales.
The nature of the technology was such that a device could be placed inexpensively wherever there was access to power and communications.
This week an Atiempo terminal was installed at a vendor in Nyanga in the Western Cape as a pilot project.
Tembile Manata, director of Brake Through Technologies, said the technology could provide ticket sales, electricity sales and account payments from one "very easy to operate terminal".
Brake Through Technologies specialises in sourcing technology to introduce to historically disadvantaged areas.
Dale Good, the managing director of Core Process International, said the software for the project had been developed by six South Africans for the local market.
From the UK parent`s point of view, it was using its South African operations as a research and development bank for the roll-out of the terminals elsewhere on the globe.
Atiempo was negotiating a deal with local IT group AST to assist in the roll-out and further develop the terminal. An empowerment deal was also being negotiated.
"Our service offers an end-to-end solution. This includes terminal management, inventory control and electronic funds transfer," said Lichtenstein.
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