Huawei Pay arrives in SA

Who can imagine a life without their mobile phone? They are our constant companions, ensuring we stay in touch, informed and entertained. They also help us manage our daily lives, with calendar and notepad functions, as well as food delivery and banking apps. And, more and more, they are becoming our one-stop payment tools.

This move to mobile management of our lives takes yet another leap this week as Huawei brings its mobile payment service, Huawei Pay, to South Africa. Its convenience is underscored by its integration with one of the country’s most widely-used mobile payment apps, Zapper. A mobile payment, customer loyalty and rewards platform, Zapper also integrates with other e-commerce services.

The partnership will go live on 3 December.

“We are proud to launch Huawei Pay in South Africa in partnership with Zapper,” says Likun Zhao, vice president at Huawei Consumer Business Group for Southern Africa. “With Huawei Pay, you add your bank cards to the app and then pay in stores simply by scanning the Zapper QR Payment Code on the bill when you check out. All local debit and credit cards from all local banks are supported. It’s a simple and convenient payment solution that we know will make the lives of South African consumers easier.”

Brett White, CEO of Zapper, says: “Huawei is a favourite among a large portion of smartphone owners in South Africa and equipping them with access to Zapper’s scan-to-pay platform will empower them to make fast, safe payments across the country.

“We are in the business of facilitating transactions and by putting the Zapper solution in the hands of millions of South African consumers, many more merchants can now also confidently offer cashless transactions. It is clear this partnership is a win for the local mobile payments market and we look forward to continued innovation together.”

Huawei Pay is a digital wallet that helps consumers buy anything from groceries at a local supermarket to guilty pleasures at a department store. It eliminates the need for bulky wallets, which can not only be cumbersome, but are also a target for thieves.

Security is a priority, says Huawei. Every transaction on Huawei Pay has to be authenticated by the user’s passcode or fingerprint, and it receives the same fraud protection as one gets on bank cards. However, Huawei Pay doesn’t use the bank card number to handle transactions, it isn’t stored on the device or on Huawei Pay servers, and is not shared with merchants.

Huawei Pay launches in SA on 3 December. To try it out, download Huawei Wallet from the Huawei AppGallery.