SA fintech pioneers Sureswipe, Traderoot partner to disrupt payment space

Two of South Africa’s first financial technology companies have announced a strategic business relationship that is set to change the fintech payment space.

Traderoot and Sureswipe have made available a quick, comprehensive and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant payment platform that reverses the relationship SMEs and merchants have with traditional financial institutions and places control of business processes in their own hands.

Sureswipe’s managing director Paul Kent (pictured left, above) says this new approach to payment transactions is set to disrupt the current mindset of the industry, as merchants no longer have to be locked into single relationships with large financial institutions that dictate terms and conditions of their business processes.

Traderoot CEO Eugene von Engelhardt (pictured right, above) says this innovative payment platform allows the SME, merchant, company, corporate or community owner to streamline systems to meet their specific business needs, while remaining completely compliant and incorporating all their partners of choice.

Says Kent: “Our partnership with Traderoot allows us to evolve our services and technology to accommodate the latest digital payment methods and what consumers want in terms of mobile and wallets”.

Von Engelhardt explains that Traderoot was one of the earliest adopters of the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS) programme which is the global security standard created by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) and has enabled SureSwipe to expand into multiple regions and geographies.

“This payment platform is not only scalable, it is also future-proof because it seamlessly integrates new and emerging payment technologies such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Tap and Go, Pay Later, tokens and loyalty vouchers,” he says.

Says Kent: “By adopting a ubiquitous platform, the banks become another supplier in the chain, and merchants can adopt a much more agile and customer-centric approach, driven by what the consumer wants while future-proofing their business to ensure that new technologies don’t derail operations, but can be easily adopted.

“Sureswipe’s deployment of the Traderoot platform has opened up the market to us, as the customer engagement model is simple. As a result, acquisition has become easier and completely transparent as the platform is all inclusive.

“It addresses all merchants, financial institutions, and point-of-sale (POS) systems and removes friction points so customers can retain all current relationships,” he adds.

The new platform is available to merchants and their partners in South Africa and in global markets.

Founded in 2000, Traderoot is an established innovator in the payment market, delivering a robust agnostic platform that enables banks, multiple vendors, merchants and retailers to talk to each other in a ubiquitous manner and deliver transactions quickly and securely to multiple platforms.

Sureswipe is the first independent South African fintech company to bring card payment solutions to smaller businesses as far back as 2008.

Kent says Traderoot’s platform facilitated the recent launch of Sureswipe’s integrated card-payment and POS solution, targeting not only the SME market, but also larger retailers and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies.

“Our integrated system brings high-end quick and simple reconciliation and transaction matching by transaction type at the end of each day, obviating recons on multiple card machines, separate POS systems, cash and vouchers etc.

“Another benefit is that payment transactions take place in real-time – two seconds – which means that there is no more customer queuing due to problematic networks or banks being offline, enhancing the customer experience and increasing turnover.

Von Engelhardt concludes that the partnership between Traderoot and Sureswipe is a collaborative and creative one, where both parties brainstorm to find solutions to challenges while looking ahead to ensure that they are ahead of the technology curve.

Featured image: Sureswipe managing director Paul Kent and Traderoot CEO Eugene von Engelhard 

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