South African bank Absa has teamed up with payments firm thumbzup to develop Payment Pebble, a mobile payment technology.

As reported by IT Web, the Payment Pebble is a smart card-reader device that connects through the 3.5mm audio PIN on a smartphone or tablet. With the reader, the phone is able to collect payments from debit or credit cards using a mobile app.

The mobile app is available for iOS, Android and BlackBerry, and the device supports chip, PIN and magnetic stripe cards. The device does not rely on Bluetooth to interact with the mobile device, nor does it need complex synchronization.

Additionally, the Payment Pebble can also be attached to a keypad and be used as a traditional POS device.

The device itself is manufactured in South Africa for less than $40. The founders hope to be able to expand its presence to other countries. It will be available in the first quarter of 2013.

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