Sureswipe has acquired a 50,1% majority stake in the Point of Sale software company Humble Till, a move which will enhance Sureswipe’s offering to small and medium-sized businesses using card payment solutions in-store by offering them an affordable and integrated solution.
Sureswipe MD Paul Kent says: “Humble Till is South Africa’s most advanced cloud-based Point of Sales system that works on a variety of platforms like Apple’s iOS, Android and the web, which makes it easy and affordable for SMEs. When Humble Till started out they looked at the complete Point of Sale ecosystem and developed a solution that simplified the traditional till system by removing the pain points.
“The convenience of easy payments using the humble Till app was a natural fit to Sureswipe’s ethos of making card acceptance payments hassle-free for all independent retailers in South Africa.
“Sureswipe and Humble Till are both South African companies that have been servicing the SME sector for around two decades. We share a client focus on independent retailers and a business focus on helping them run and manage their stores better,” he adds.
Humble Till’s CEO Christiaan Mienie says: “We wanted to build a Point of sale app that is as easy to set up as it is to use, and doesn’t need an ‘IT guy’ to get it going. And this is what we accomplished. The ease of our offering has also allowed us to pass cost savings onto our customers. Independent retailers have access to the technology from anywhere on any device and access retail analytics and insights on what is happening in their business at any one time.
“We are excited to be part of the Sureswipe organisation as the synergies between our businesses were compelling and going forward, we will be exploring new innovations to streamline the way that small enterprises run their operations in order to scale and grow. What is exciting is that we are both agile enterprises that can respond quickly to consumer demands and the fast pace of change in this environment.”
Sureswipe is one of South Africa’s first card payment service providers established in 2008 to make card payment acceptance easy and accessible to all independent retailers and service providers.
Kent explains: “Typically, the till system has been cumbersome and difficult to change or upgrade. Humble Till, being a total digital offering, removes this obstacle and allows for far more flexibility. Sureswipe can now offer a fully integrated payment system linked to humble Till. From a functionality perspective, Humble Till has helped our own mobile point of sale offering take a big step forward allowing us to transform from a purely payment provider to a solution provider. The acquisition brings a maturity to the Sureswipe brand, that this year marks its 10th anniversary.
Mienie adds: “The timing of this partnership is perfect as we enter a new era of point of sale in South Africa. Customers don’t want cumbersome and weighty systems and are increasingly taking up POS offerings which allow for quick set up and immediate implementation at an affordable price. The traditional heavy weight of a point of sale system is so yesterday, we want agile light and fast moving.
“With Sureswipe as a payment provider and Humble Till as a POS provider, we are able to carry out our shared vision to help independent retailers grow their businesses. The partnership reinforces both companies’ offerings to independent retailers that are growing their stores, adding more lanes in these stores and need reliable, flexible POS and payment systems.
“Our POS analytics supports that vision by enabling business owners to know what is happening in their business across stores and lanes in terms of sales, stock, etc. and allows them to respond quickly to any deficiencies that the analytics reveal.”
Both Sureswipe and Humble Till will continue to operate separately under the own brands, but will leverage synergies by extending their service offering to their customers across South Africa.