Street sellers in South Africa can now accept payment by mobile. Photo: BBC News

Capetonian Sam Laing sounds like a brand ambassador when she talks about her favourite local mobile payments application. But she isn't.
Instead, she's one of a growing number of people in South Africa's Mother City who are leaving their wallets at home in favour of digital money apps.
"I use SnapScan," she says. "I love it. If I find someone using SnapScan I will buy something even if I wasn't intending to.
"I find myself telling small coffee shops and vendors at markets that they should get it. I love not needing cash on me. I love not handing over my credit card."
Views like these account for the arrival of a number of different mobile payments options. SnapScan has garnered the most attention, but the sector also includes the likes of FlickPay, Zapper and GustPay.
SnapScan merchants receive a static QR [quick response] code - or SnapCode - identifier to display next to their tills.
Customers register on the app and link their credit card, paying by scanning the code with their phones, and confirming the payment with a PIN or fingerprint. The merchant receives confirmation of the payment on their nominated phone.
"At its core, SnapScan is about giving everyone access to fast, convenient and safe electronic purchases," says co-founder Kobus Ehlers.
"We designed the product to suit a wide variety of shops, from the largest retailer to a small street vendor selling fruit next to the side of the road."
SnapScan has also partnered with the City of Cape Town to allow motorists to pay parking marshals in the city using the app. Each marshal is equipped with a unique QR code that motorists scan to pay for their parking.
And even Big Issue sellers can now accept SnapScan mobile payments.
FlickPay's system is the other way round, where the user "flicks to pay" by pushing a slider button on the app and entering a PIN, which generates the unique QR code. The retailer then scans this code with a QR reader installed on the till.
"It's all about ease and efficiency," says Zac Rusagara, head of commercials at FlickPay. "It is easing the process, and it is being on trend. It's cool."
Cost is also a factor.
"We aim to drive down the cost of electronic transactions and displace cash payments in many places," says Ehlers.
"SnapScan does not charge shoppers any fees. Merchants pay a small transaction fee that is comparable or cheaper than using normal credit card facilities."
FlickPay is also free for customers, while Rusagara says his company works with retailers to agree a transaction price equal or less than that charged by a bank, known as its acquiring rate.
"We are not set on acquiring rate, we are much more flexible and able to come to a solution that works for both parties," he says.
This cheaper and more efficient way of making transactions seems to be appealing to customers and merchants alike, with both SnapScan and FlickPay now available nationwide.