World leading CellPAD technology offers electronic transactions to the masses

With the number of debit and credit cards in South Africa expected to continue growing at 40%-50% a year for the next few years, retailers and consumers are set to benefit from a move towards much greater use of electronic payments.

Lack of communications infrastructure, which previously restricted electronic payment processing to business with reliable landline connections, is no longer an issue.

"The GPRS networks of the major cellphone companies now cover over 90% of the population," says Wayne Berkinshaw, business manager of Datalinx. "That means 90% of the population potentially has access to low-cost electronic transactions, including people in rural areas that other technologies don`t reach."

CellPAD, Datalinx`s flagship product, provides full point of sale and transaction processing capability to any business with GPRS network coverage - often at a fraction of the cost of traditional fixed-line solutions.

Berkinshaw says its low cost and broad availability make CellPAD particularly suitable for small businesses in rural areas. At Fraai Uitzicht, a top fine dining restaurant and guesthouse on a Cape wine estate, managers say using CellPAD for their credit card machines has had a "huge" impact.

"We do a lot of credit card transactions and we used to depend on a very unreliable dial-up landline," says assistant manager Jonine Stokes. "It could take up to five attempts to get through, at great cost as well as inconvenience to customers who were kept waiting. Now we get instant access and our costs have dropped by about 80% -- there really is no comparison."

CellPAD is also fuelling the rapid deployment of independent ATMs in convenience stores, restaurants and forecourts across South Africa. "We`ve based our business on GPRS communications," says Ray Brederode of Cash Axcess, a subsidiary of top US ATM company Global Axcess. "It`s very reliable, much cheaper than any of the alternatives and it makes ATMs very easy to deploy almost anywhere. We deliver the machine, plug it in to a power outlet and they`re online - there`s no need to install any extra equipment."

CellPAD has been developed and manufactured entirely in South Africa and is a world leader in GPRS-based transaction processing technology. "South Africa as a whole is really pushing the boundaries of what can be done with GPRS," says Berkinshaw. "Our networks are right at the forefront of global developments."