Cape Flats entrepreneurs win international recognition for digital payments taxi platform

Cape Flats entrepreneur Jamie Thurston Wyngaard describes himself as a serial entrepreneur and advocate for innovation and social impact.

He's the co-founder and chief experience officer of the company Loop, which recently won the Science, Technology & Innovation Award at the Forty under 40 Africa Awards in Cairo, Egypt.

Wyngaard tells Gugs Mhlungu they'll also be jetting off to Dubai next week after being nominated for the GLOBAL Forty under 40 Awards.

In a nutshell, Loop is a platform digitalising the public transport industry for a more convenient and safe commute, particularly with regard to minibus taxis.

Their vision is to to 'fundamentally reimagine transport in South Africa', improving daily transport for 4 million riders and more than 400 000 taxi drivers.

Wyngaard explains that the idea was sparked by business partner Imtiyaaz Riley's concerns around cash payments being used for public transport in our digital age.

"Imtiyaaz's father is a taxi driver and had to risk his life also carrying all the cash they receive when people pay for the ride. What he said is the people using taxis have bank accounts and withdraw funds from the ATM, pay the driver the cash who then gives the money to the taxi boss who puts it back into the bank from where he covers his own costs."

Jamie Wyngaard, Co-founder - Loop

Wyngaard says they consulted widely before creating their app, realising they had to retain the benefits of both cash and digital payments to make it work.

Why people who've tried this before did not succeed, he points out, is because they focused on traditional banking where you usually have to wait two days for a payment to come through.

"If you're a taxi driver and someone wants to pay you with a bank card you can't run your business, because you need money right now to put in fuel, to pay your boss this evening, to buy food for your family... You can't wait."

Jamie Wyngaard, Co-founder - Loop

"Our system is instant payments... We also had to look at bank charges, because if people have to pay those they'll just revert back to cash."

Jamie Wyngaard, Co-founder - Loop

Scroll up to listen to the interview, and click here for more info on Loop