التكنولوجيا وأخبارها بوابة الإمارات لتكنولوجيا المعلومات والإتصالات
Ozow – Paving the Way for Open Banking in Africa
Adding over 100,000 new users a month in South Africa and
Namibia alone, Ozow is now taking steps to bring its
payments platform to the rest of Africa and the world.
“In a constantly changing global economy, traditionally
dominated by large banks since 1472, (something which is
unlikely to change in the coming decades), Ozow is
positioned as a disruptor to challenge the status quo. Ozow
is leading the way with an Open Banking platform in Africa,
and the startling growth of the business over the past 6
years tells the story of a fast growing start up on the verge
of taking the African continent by storm,” says Ozow CEO
and co-founder, Thomas Pays. “As a market led company
Ozow’s success has grown to see them capturing an entire
market (representing over 70% of the instant EFT market
in South Africa), from the heart of underprivileged
townships and rural areas to the highest LSM. Users all
note that the payment platform is a better, safer, and
easier alternative to cards or a manual EFT payment”.
There are over 49 million bank accounts in South Africa
alone – users just need a convenient way to pay from them.
This is where Ozow’s secure online payments platform is
leading payment innovation.
“Consumers, merchants, and banks in South Africa and
Namibia now recognize Ozow as the quick and trusted way
to make payments,” says Pays. “As most people in the
region go online mainly through their mobile devices (the
same rings true for the rest of Africa) – and often pre-pay
for airtime/data – transaction speed is essential. We
commit to enabling payments in a few seconds.”
Ozow’s latest product release in the form of a world first,
patent-pending innovation called the Ozow PIN has also
resulted in increased growth of the business. This
technology empowers a user to tokenize payment and
make any repeat purchases with the simple entry of a 4-
digit PIN. This world first innovation is already aggressively
taking the lion’s share of the cash, card, and alternative
payment options market by empowering users to transact
anytime, anywhere online, or at point of sale, without the
need for an app or registration. “As a market leading
payments company in Africa, we have put the needs of our
clients first, resulting in an increase of over 50% in
recurring payments since the introduction of this new
technology,’’ says Pays. Ozow can also be used for e-billing
in partnership with SAGE and Xero, SMS payments via all
major networks, and QR codes. The service is becoming
available in five of South Africa’s 11 official languages, with
plans to add the other languages in the coming months.
From the merchant’s perspective, Ozow acts as an
additional layer of security to that of the existing banking
infrastructure, keeping all transactions ultra-safe at all
times and providing an environment that has proven to be
safer than any other payment mechanism. Once a payment
has been confirmed, it is irrevocable, using a real-time
digital instruction issued by the owner of the source
account.
Ozow was founded in 2014 by Mitchan Adams and Lyle
Eckstein (both South African) together with CEO Thomas
Pays, a Frenchman who has lived in South Africa for more
than 16 years.
The past few years has seen Ozow become the most trusted
payment brand among users who have developed a strong
emotional attachment to the brand, empowering many to
transact digitally for the first time.
Ozow’s company values and the culture it has developed
focuses on empowering its stakeholders and being
impactful. In April last year Ozow introduced a “0% fees’’
campaign for NPO/NGO’s as well as SME’s, again leading
the way in the market as a socially responsible business, by
passing value on to entrepreneurs (a critical element of the
South African economy) who often place their customer’s
needs ahead of their own.
“Today, Ozow is a team of 50 + people who share a vision
of bringing our fast and easy payment solutions to the
African continent and ultimately the globe. Through Ozow,
in a market where over ZAR9,7 trillion is transferred via
“bank to bank” payments a year, well over 11 times the
market share of card payments, the prospect of financial
inclusion for all is virtually limitless,” says Pays.
“Our approach is completely open, and we want to partner
with banks and other payments providers in each of the
markets we enter,” he says. “We’ve taken the time to make
our tech is ready for sc
alability, and we believe that moment has now arrived.”
