A new application that runs on iPhone and iPad could see Stellenbosch become the first South African city where you do not need cash, as a geo-fenced mobile payment system, Gust, approaches its Beta trial in June 2012.

MXit staff have been using Gust wallets, which runs on iPhones with merchants on an iPad. When two devices are close to each other, the merchant can request a payment from the mobile phone user.

Unlike other payment systems, which use geo-fencing logic, this does not need a GPS device or even a GSM connection.

It uses wifi, the user's name and photo to make a payment. Devices on the same wifi network will discover each other. All communication happens over the wifi network, which makes the payment process very fast.

"Quick, reliable"

"The idea with the project was to design a really quick and reliable mobile payment experience without NFC," says Joe Botha, CEO of TrustFabric.