Pay & Connect 13.0.2

The Pay & Connect application is a mobile platform developed for the University of Cape Town (UCT), designed to facilitate cashless transactions related to food services within campus residences and affiliated merchants.

Currently, the app is accessible to students residing in university residences, as well as authorized scanners and merchants involved in campus catering operations.

Students can utilize the Pay & Connect app to scan their QR codes for entry into residence dining facilities, request food vouchers, and complete transactions with on-campus merchants, including food suppliers.

Scanners employ the app to verify student entries into residence dining areas, issue food vouchers, and cancel previously issued vouchers when necessary.

Merchants engage with the app to receive voucher payments from students and to redeem these vouchers by transferring funds directly to their bank accounts.

Registration requires users to input their UCT student number or email address upon first download. Users specify their role—student, scanner, or merchant. Verification of email addresses is mandatory prior to use; this is completed by confirming a link sent via email. Scanner and merchant accounts require manual activation by UCT staff.

Each registered student retains a QR code displayed within the app, which facilitates entry into residence dining halls upon scanning. Access is limited to meal options aligned with each student’s specific dining plan.

Students eligible for supervised lunchtime meals can request a lunch voucher via the app, credited directly into their digital wallet. The digital wallet is visible within the app interface for both students and merchants, displaying current balances.

Voucher issuance can be initiated through the app before a predetermined cut-off time established by the university or manually by scanners through QR code scanning of student IDs.

Students have the ability to cancel their lunch vouchers via the app prior to the cut-off time, provided they have not already utilized part of the voucher. Cancellation results in deducting the voucher amount from the user’s digital wallet. Scanners can also cancel vouchers by scanning the student’s ID card.

To redeem vouchers, students scan merchant QR codes and specify the amount they wish to spend. Merchants may initiate payments by scanning student QR codes or ID cards, thereby facilitating seamless transactions on campus.

Merchants are provided with an option to transfer funds from their voucher wallets into linked bank accounts by submitting their banking details through the app interface.