THE Amber Group has expanded its presence in the South African market with the recent launch of InstaPay, a payment solution app, and is already looking to expand it into other markets on the continent.

The InstaPay app was launched with Omnea, a South African financial technology (Fintech) company whose application programming interface (API) is the technology used to smooth out the connections between the app, merchants, and customers.

“InstaPay is one of the most comprehensive payments solution built for merchants ever, including in South Africa, which is a very mature market as far as payments spaces is concerned,” Dushyant Savadia, chairman and CEO of Amber Group, told the Jamaica Observer shortly after the launch.

He outlined that unlike other payment apps,
InstaPay is unique in that it offers more payment options, including through QR codes, transactions by phone, or a weblink through apps such as Instagram and Whatsapp; has full online digital onboarding for merchants that allow them to start accepting payments in 24 hours; has rewards built in and is also compliant with regulations across Africa.

“The advantage for us is always looking at the market gap. The market gap is in every country, everybody focuses on a single way or a single method of transaction, whereas we brought all the six methods of transactions into a single app. At pre-launch we had 67,000 merchants from one big entity which are moving to InstaPay already,” he continued. But adding that while South Africa is a massive market, Savadia said he has eyes on the continental market.

“The whole of Africa is a massive market, we’ve always viewed South Africa as a launch pad for the rest of the African continent, and that is exactly what we are doing. I think in terms of merchant capabilities, there are more than 2 million customers or merchants that we have our eyes on onboarding in the next five years,” Savadia told Business Observer.

The Amber Group also offers its Amber Innovations, an enterprise software with large businesses as clients in South Africa, and Amber IoT, a hardware development company that produces smart meters, sensors, vehicle trackers, and panic buttons in South Africa. It also offers its services in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

“
InstaPay is not just another payment solution; it’s a comprehensive platform designed to meet the diverse needs of merchants of all sizes. With industry-leading features,
InstaPay provides merchants with the tools they need to manage their businesses more efficiently using Omnea’s API Integration Hub,” says Deon Tromp, chief executive officer at Omnea.

Tromp said merchants can access low rates through the platform, manage their business operations via an intuitive mobile application and web portal, and leverage instant settlements for real-time cash flow management, including paying suppliers, managing stock, processing payroll, and making individual or bulk payments, all in real time.

“The integration of digital value-added services aligns merchants with the broader trend of digital transformation. As consumers increasingly adopt digital payment methods and online services, merchants who offer digital VAS can stay relevant and meet evolving customer expectations. This alignment can also streamline operations and reduce costs associated with manual processes ,” added Savadia.

He continued: “I think Jamaican companies can be proud that one of the largest payment solutions now deployed in South Africa comes from our island, and we can be very proud of it.”