Low-cost carrier FlySafair will no longer accept cash for onboard product sales, as from 17 April.
In a notice to travellers and on its website, FlySafair says it is taking the inflight experience to “new heights”, embracing the future of cashless onboard food purchases.
According to the local airline, the move is not only to increase the speed and efficiency of its catering service, but also for security.
“Simply tap to pay, swipe your card or make use of a meal voucher, which can be added to your online flight booking,” says FlySafair in an email sent to travellers. “It’s cool, cashless and convenient.”
The recently released SpendTrend24 report, compiled by Discovery Bank and Visa, found that South African consumers increasingly prefer to use contactless payments.
Based on the report, SA benchmarks well against global counterparts, with a nine percentage point increase in digital wallet usage for the country, over the last year.
According to Lineshree Moodley, Visa SA country manager, the surge in use of digital wallets is driven by services such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which are available in the country.
“In the South African market, we still see the majority of spend – from a contactless perspective – is where consumers tap their cards at the point-of-sale,” she said.
“In the case of digital wallets, we see that they are growing exceptionally fast and believe they will become more prominent as time goes on.”