Glossary

Business interruption

Cover for the income a business loses, and the extra costs it carries, while it cannot operate normally after an insured event.

Certificate of Compliance (CoC)

The certificate a registered electrician signs to confirm that a fixed electrical installation meets the wiring regulations. For an installed solar or battery system it is one of the documents a municipality asks for after installation, alongside a signed as-built diagram. It attaches to the house's wiring, not to the equipment, which is why a portable unit that plugs into a socket needs none.

Claims-made

A way of writing a liability policy so that it pays claims made and reported while the policy is in force, whenever the work behind the claim was done. Professional indemnity is usually written this way, which is why a gap in cover or a cancelled policy matters.

Core (Yoco's plan)

Yoco's standard plan, and the one almost every small business is on. It costs R0 a month, charges 2.30% excluding VAT per local card sale, and includes the dual-SIM mobile data free for life. Instant Payout costs R17.25 for a payout of up to R1 000 and 1% above that, up to R10 000 a day.

Excess

The part of a claim you pay yourself before the insurer pays the rest. Some insurers call it a deductible. Choosing a higher excess usually lowers the premium, and raises what you pay on the day you claim.

Excluding VAT

The rate before 15% VAT is added, which is how almost every South African provider quotes. A rate of 2.30% excl. VAT actually bills you 2.645%, so two quotes are only comparable once you know which basis each is on.

FICA verification

The identity check every South African merchant account requires before it can settle money to you. It is why day one is rarely day one.

GoTyme Bank EveryDay account

A free personal transaction account from GoTyme Bank, a South African digital bank. It is not an iKhokha product: you open it yourself in the GoTyme app, then list it on your iKhokha profile as your payout account. It is the only account iKhokha's same-day iK Debit Card pays into. iKhokha also pays Nedbank customers twice a day, the same day, with no GoTyme account involved.

Interchange

The portion of a card fee that goes to the customer's issuing bank, set by the card scheme rather than by your provider. Nobody in South Africa can discount it.

Merchant discount rate

The single percentage your provider quotes you. It contains interchange, the scheme fee and the provider's own margin.

Plus (Yoco's plan)

Yoco's middle plan at R249 a month per location. It is the tier that carries appointment management, a built-in loyalty programme and multi-location management, and it lowers the card rate to 2.10% excluding VAT on local debit up to R50,000 a month. Nothing on Core is taken away to make it; Plus adds. The plan above it is Pro at R499 a month, which is the only tier where fast payouts are free.

POPIA

The Protection of Personal Information Act, South Africa's data protection law. It sets rules for how a business collects, stores and protects personal information about people, and the Information Regulator enforces it.

Product liability

Cover for claims that a product you made, sold, supplied or installed injured someone or damaged their property. It is often sold alongside public liability, and it is not the same as product recall, which is usually excluded.

Retroactive date

The earliest date of work a claims-made policy will cover. Work done before that date is excluded, even when the claim about it arrives while the policy is in force.

Run-off cover

Cover that keeps a claims-made policy answering claims about past work after you stop trading, retire or close the business, when no ordinary policy is in force any more.

Scheme fee

Visa's and Mastercard's own charge for running the network. Smaller than interchange and equally fixed.

Settlement

When the money actually lands in your bank account — not when the payment is approved. The gap is one to three business days depending on provider.

SSEG (small-scale embedded generation)

A generating or storage system connected to wiring that the municipal grid also supplies, which the municipality has to approve. It is decided by the wiring, not the technology: an inverter and battery with no solar panels is an SSEG once it is wired into the distribution board, and a unit that only charges from a wall socket is not, because it counts as an appliance. Each municipality sets its own rules and fees, so the requirements are local rather than national. Checked against a municipal SSEG FAQ on 10 September 2026.

Surge rating

The most power a power station can deliver for a moment, above its continuous output, to start appliances that draw a burst of power when they switch on, such as fridges and pumps. If the burst is bigger than the surge rating, the unit cuts out.