SA schools insist on payments via payment app; a new payment application by Karri, a local payment application whose name is derived from the South African slang term “i-kerri” which means “I am carrying money to school”
This apps allows parents make payments for any school projects such as school fees, excursions, etc. and has about 1000 schools using the platform including prominent schools such as Bishops High School, St Johns College, and Renish Girls High and 90% of their parents using the app
Some SA schools avoid cash, insist on payments via payment app to avoid cash and reduce the risk of money being stolen or lost by pupils, said Karri, CEO payment app.
Instead, Douglas Hoernle, CEO and founder of the payment application said the schools are encouraging parents to make payments for school trips, clothing and food through Karri and are avoiding any cash payments in order to improve on safety measures.
Hoernle said since it launched in 2016, 90% of parents at schools where Karri’s payment system has been implemented, use Karri because it allows for the quick make payments irrespective of their banking affiliation.
He also said that Karri was developed to work seamlessly on basic phones that have WhatsApp, to assist parents who do not have access to an expensive smartphone
One of the biggest obstacles since launch was trying to get parents to use an online payment system who’ve never used one before was, he said.
“[Since 2016] we have helped many parents make their first online payment, which has opened up the world of mobile and online payments for them,” Hoernle told Business Insider South Africa.
The application also has a unique mobile wallet functionality that allows users to store funds to be used for school-related activities.
According to Hoernle,
“While it is predominantly used by pre-primary schools, primary schools, and high schools, Karri also has a smaller user base at universities, colleges, sports clubs, churches, and other smaller community organizations”.
This is a privately owned application but has partnered with Nedbank in 2016 to provide financial technology to ensure that all the data stored on the platform is safe, secure and reliable.
The aim of Karri is to remove all cash from every school in South Africa and enable all South African to use a convenient mobile payment application. Although, Karri is completely free for parents but makes its income by charging a small transaction fee from funds transferred through its system.
Karri signed up as South Africa’s largest education corporate ADvTECH as a client in 2019 and is well-positioned to grow into other African markets,” Hoernle added.
