Zim technopreneur Kuda Musasiwa develops Deets, a quick contacts sharing and payments tool

By Flint Felix Chariwa

YOU are at a workshop or other event and want to share contact details with potential new customers or acquaintances. It used to be cool to whip out your phone and type in the contacts, or hand out a business card. But not anymore

Contact details in today’s context are more than just a string of digits we call a phone number. Our business and social lives are now intertwined and have migrated to a level where we chill out on social media while also making money on the same platforms.

Businesses get money from people, and people now spend hours on end hanging out on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Telegram and other platforms. Hence, taking someone’s contacts now often involves getting not just the good old phone number, but also the social links, e-mails, et cetera.

But even if you’re handed someone’s business cards, consider the time it takes to type all these details and social links into your device. Welcome to the world of Deets cards!

More than just sharing contacts

Tech-savvy businessman Kuda Musasiwa saw the challenges of capturing contact details in today’s fast-paced life and came up with a fantastic tool: the Deets card. But, as you’ll find shortly, the card does a lot more than share information.

With a Deets card, all you do is tap and scan and voila!, the contacts and associated social links are captured accurately into your device within the blink of an eye.

“The Deets card is really a quick and easy way to pass on your contacts the same way you tap and pay with your phone,” Kuda said in an interview with HourlyHits. “We created the cards using the NFC (near field communication) technology which has been around for quite a while.”

NFC is a short-range wireless technology used typically for sharing small payloads of data between NFC-enabled devices. Developed by Nokia, Sony, and Philips, it has been in use for nearly 15 years now and is a common feature on most laptops, phones and tablets made from 2014 onwards.

The Deets card goes way beyond just enabling quick sharing of contacts. You can have links encoded into the card for repetitive routines such as making payments via EcoCash, VISA or PayPal. Even crypto currency payment routines can be incorporated into the card for added convenience.

Kuda explained: “You no longer need to describe your email, YouTube link or other details and social links when sharing contacts. All those functionalities are right there on the Deets card.

“The card has ability to add a “pay me” option which gives direct access to send payments via EcoCash, VISA, paypal or even Bitcoin, Ethereum or any other crypto currency.”

Never no more do you have to carry around a bunch of printed cards, or run out of them when you need to share contacts. In fact, you no longer need to print any business cards at all. A single Deets card the size of your normal bank card is all you now need in your wallet, and you can share information millions of times with it.

Everyone needs a Deets card

It is actually incorrect to call a Deets card a business card. While you have to be in business to need a business card, the Deets card is for anyone who needs to share contacts whether inside or outside business circles.

“You don’t have to be a business person to own a Deets card. You can be a professional, an electrician, a plumber, a CEO, a make-up artist, a software developer or a farmer – the Deets card enables you to pass on information about yourself, whoever you are,” Kuda told HourlyHits.

Actually, the Deets card can just be a vanity card, for example, when you’re in a bar with friends and you want to share your contacts.

Long-lasting and dynamic

The Deets card is really a treasure trove of convenience and style, all compacted into a single chip. The card comes printed with your name and/or brand logo (where appropriate) on it.

Kuda explained that the Deets card has a lifespan much longer than your phone’s. Once you have it, it’s all yours for no extra cost in future.

“The cards have a lifespan of up to 15 years, so we can say it lasts as long as you can keep it. Currently, we have the plastic ones and we’ll in future explore those made from metal or bamboo,” Kuda explained.

The savings you make by getting a Deets card and no longer having to print business cards are imnense, moreso for organisations where several staff members need a constant supply of business cards. Besides, the sharing of information is possible even when the device is offline using QR code scanning, meaning no need for an internet connection.

Yet another cool aspect of the Deets card is that it’s dynamic: there is no need to send thr card re-progrramming when your contacts change. All you do is update the contacts on your profile and socials, and the updated information is saved to the Deets card as soon as you save the changes.

Kuda didn’t have to reinvent the wheel

The developed world has already turned a new corner in terms of sharing information, what with the Internet of Things (IoT).

Deets founder Kuda Musasiwa noticed that as he travelled around the world attending conferences and social events, sharing contacts is no longer as hectic as it has neen in Zimbabwe.

“I’ve noticed a lot of people in the developed world using NFC cards to share contacts, so I asked myself, why can’t we do it in Zimbabwe?”

To create the Deets card, Kuda didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. He leveraged on existing technologies including NFC and customised it to his specific needs.

He said: “We found a local manufacturer of NFC cards for access control and re-programmed them for information sharing. By so doing, we created the Deets card.

“What’s also fantastic about the Deets card is that it works even when the device is offline. The person taking your information just scans the card using their device camera,” Kuda explained.

How to get yourself a Deets card

Kuda says at the moment, Deets is accepting orders through their website. To get a Deets card, visit deets.co.zw and fill in a form on-site.

As you type in your information, it will be captured at the back-end and stored for programming onto your card. This meams it is very important to ensure from your end that your information is accurate.

Here are some screengrabs showing some of the information that, when you fill it in, will appear on your Deets card:

“We get the information as you type it to us, and the information is as correct according to what you give to us,” Kuda explained. “Log onto the Deets website, upload your information profile or brand name and logo as you want it printed on your Deets card.”

Deets cards are currently being delivered for free around Harare. However, orders from around Zimbabwe are welcome and shipping options are available.

“We ship the cards to the clients within five working days maximum. You can also choose how you want the card delivered to you, although we have been using FedEx at the moment. Shipping options for outside Harare are available, including Zimpost,” said Kuda.

Deets cards and the future

Kuda is clear that the focus for now is to get the Deets card to as many people out there as possible. However, there are plans to expand the card’s functionality in the near future.

“We just want people to adopt the Deets cards at the moment, but our goal is to eventually make it a fully-fledged, self-contained payments card,” Kuda said.

Most Android and iOS devices made after 2014 and have NFC capability can easily share Deets information by tap or scan. Kuda and his team at Deets are also working on a downloadable Deets app which will bring even greater functionality to what’s already a fantastic card.

He revealed the added benefits for Deets card holders which include discounts when purchasing at selected suppliers. Fresh-in-a-Box, an online shop and supplier of fresh foods and vegetables which he and his wife Nomalisa founded a few years ago, is already offering discounts to Deets card holders.

It is possible that selected cafés and restaurants will one day be accepting payments via Deets cards, but that is for a future phase. For now, we all need the Deets cards, don’t we? Why don’t you get yours already!

• This article was first published by hourlyhits.com.

S'bo Parker

Bongani Parker has 4 years experience writing and curating verified entry-level jobs, internships, bursaries and career resources for South African youth. Every month, Scholarly Africa reaches at least 1 million job-seekers in South Africa alone.