App-based Payment System A First For Local Businesses

A new app-based online payments system will be a boon for small to medium sized businesses in New Zealand, especially for micro-traders, its developer says.

Latipay partnerships manager Kris Sproull says all payments happen through a mobile app, which is a first for New Zealand small businesses.

The app aims to create a new era for New Zealand payments, which would be of particular benefit for small businesses.

“In many countries, payment between customers and businesses are completely cashless and cardless, all done through mobile. Systems such as PayPal or AliPay - this app is like AliPay for New Zealanders,” he says.

The Latipay app is easy to use, for both customers and businesses, he says, and it has the potential to really change how people do business. And when the way people do commerce changes, it can change how we live as well.

Once upon a time, precious metals were used in commerce, then coins and banknotes, and later credit and debit cards. Now, the move is to mobile, internet-based systems, such as Latipay.

“The world has changed to move this way… There is no such product in New Zealand now. It’s not completely new globally, but it is new to New Zealand and Australia,” Kris says.

“It’s time for New Zealand businesses to use a better facility.”

The app uses QR codes for businesses and this code is then scanned by customers to pay for their transactions - whether they are in-person or online. The customer does not need the Latipay app to make the payment.

New Zealanders are now used to using QR codes and scanning them with their phones after six months of using the Government’s COVID-19 tracing system, Kris says. Previously, it has been hard to persuade people to use QR codes here, but now they are more familiar to people. People understand QR codes now, and they are trusted and seen as secure.

Kris says the payments are in realtime, in New Zealand dollars or other currencies if required.

“This can function like the EFTPOS terminal to take payments from a bank account. There is no application process, there’s no monthly rental, it’s much easier.”

He says the app will be particularly useful for micro-businesses or for internet-based businesses.

Kris says the app is available in the Apple Store, is easy to use and is fully automated. It is free to download and set up and, being fully mobile, is suitable for a variety of different businesses.

He says small businesses across New Zealand are concerned about rising transaction fees in the use of payment terminals, particularly when using cards with Paywave, and accompanying hardware rental fees.

Latipay places high importance on the security of its software. Its payment gateway is protected, using Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) based on Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Asymmetric Cryptography is utilised to prevent the messages being tampered with during transmission on the internet, along with multifactor authentication. No sensitive banking information is stored. During a transaction, no one can access or see your banking credentials.

Latitude Technologies Limited (trading as Latipay) is a Registered New Zealand financial service provider.

Founded in 2015, Latipay specialises in innovative payment products, provides payment solutions for marketplaces, cross-border transactions, social media commerce, mobile business payment solutions, micro instant payment, subscriptions/ recurring billings and also virtual card issuing.

It has been recognised in the fintech and payment fields with the following accolades:

• 2016 Tech Start-Up of The Year, Australian and New Zealand Internet Award Winner;
• 2017 HI-TECH Start-Up, NZ HI-TECH AWARDS Winner;
• 2017 Winner of FinTech & Payments, SXSW - Austin, Texas USA;
• 2018 Wechat Partner of the Year; and
• 2019 AliPay Excellence Award.

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