bobshop, South Africa's largest online auction and sales site, has announced that it utilises a locally developed online payment gateway solution called bobPay. Developed specifically for the company by a team of local developers, the proprietary solution is the only one of its kind in South Africa and is built on an open source platform, in keeping with the Web site's architecture and technology strategy.

The solution, which is offered to all buyers and sellers on the site, allows individuals and small and medium businesses (SMBs) to accept credit card payments via the Web site. This is ordinarily a lengthy and time-consuming process, which requires bank approval. However, via the bobPay system, bobshop eliminates this procedure by acting as a 'super-merchant' and accepting payment on behalf of its clients.

"As there are no other similar online payment gateway solutions currently available in South Africa, bobPay allows us to offer a unique solution to sellers on the bobshop site. We provide a quick and easy way for users to make and receive payments, in a secure online environment. bobPay allows users to make payments without revealing their credit card details to online sellers - providing an additional layer of security," says Andy Higgins, managing director of bobshop.

"Since bobPay is built on the bobshop backbone, which employs open standards and consists of three levels - a RedHat Linux Apache Web server, an application server using a Java Server Pages (JSP) Engine, and an Oracle database - the entire system is wholly scalable. As Bob Shop's traffic and the South African online payment market grow, bobPay will allow us to expand along with these developments. Additionally, as bobshop owns all of the bobPay source code, we are able to customise the solution to meet conditions specific to bobshop and the South African market," adds Higgins.

While bobshop has enjoyed a strong market presence for many years, many are unaware of the locally developed technology and architecture behind the site's interface. "We are proud to be a South African company and team and always strive to make use of local resources. bobshop proves that e-commerce is alive and growing in South Africa - in terms of both business models and technology," Higgins concludes.