On Wednesday, payments platform Ozow held a media webinar to showcase some of the new solutions its bringing to market across country – Ozapp and Ozow PIN.
Both solutions are aimed at addressing financial and digital inclusion in South Africa, according to the payments platform, with it designed to make the process of setting up and facilitating payments as easy as possible for small business owners and entrepreneurs in particular.
These new solutions form part of what the company is calling the “Ozow Revolution“, with them both featuring some rather innovative elements.
The Ozapp for example, is a progressive web application (PWA), which means it takes up far less space on a device than a regular mobile app, as well as being less data intensive, which remains an issue for many when it comes to digital inclusion.
Added to this is the ability to create a profile simply by taking a selfie, and the ability to begin transacting sans bank card, provided you have an active bank account, with the payment system being QR code-based.
Switching to Ozow PIN, as the name suggests, it makes use of a uniquely generated pin in order to facilitate contactless EFT payments. The system is designed for use both in-store or online, so Ozow is envisioning it as a solution that can work on a number of different platforms. The company also confirms that it is working to add support for all 11 South African languages on Ozow PIN by the end of the year, with five already supported to date.
For those entrepreneurs, SMEs and small businesses concerned about the cost of such a platform, Pays confirms that access is free for the first 12 months (up to R1 million in processing per month), with NGOs also getting access for life, for free.
“We’re only just getting started with developing new innovations that enable more South Africans to enjoy the benefits of digital payments. As a business, we will continue to find ways to drive digital inclusion until every person on the African continent can make or receive safe, convenient digital payments,” concludes Pays.
