It’s no secret that the last few years have been anything but smooth sailing for South African consumers. With most still recovering from the economic damage wrought by the pandemic, South Africans are also now faced with inflation, fuel prices and load shedding all at record highs.
And that’s not all.
New data from debt counsellor, DebtBusters, shows that debt exposure has worsened for most income groups in South Africa compared to recent years. On average, consumers have 20% more unsecured debt in 2022 compared to 2016. Those taking home R20,000 or more have unsecured debt levels that are 54% higher than in 2016.
That means for companies in the lending space, whether that’s direct lending in the form of large and small loans, or retailers offering credit facilities and buy now pay later options, there’s never been more of a need for digital solutions that facilitate collections from consumers. And research shows that consumers are asking for these solutions.
According to Wunderman Thompson’s “Future Shopper Report 2022”, consumers want innovative retail experiences, and payment innovations form part of that experience. In fact, 64% of global consumers said they wished brands and retailers would be more innovative in how they use digital technology to improve those experiences. While 85% of South African consumers say they are “more comfortable” with digital technologies than ever before. It's clear that the market is ready for digital payment innovations, and so is Ozow.
How Ozow Collections helps your business
Ozow offers a unique Collections product that’s designed to make the collections process easier and faster than ever before, for merchants and consumers alike. In fact, as of July 2022, Ozow has processed over R300 million in collections thanks to the payment options we offer within our Collections product.
We offer our merchants (and their consumers) the following ways to collect and get paid.
SMS Payment Request Links
This solution involves the sending of a payment request link directly to a customer’s cell phone. To complete the payment, all the customer needs to do is click the link which opens the Ozow payment flow. From there, they simply enter their online banking details, select the account from which to pay and authorise the payment.
Smart SMS
Smart SMS is essentially a landing page that is personalised with content relevant to your customer segments, accessed via an embedded branded link in an SMS. Smart SMS combines the experience of web with a host of dynamic and rich features that are bespoke to your brand.
QR Codes and Pay Now buttons
One of the easiest ways to get paid by customers is to include a QR code or Pay Now button directly on your invoices. All consumers need to do is either scan the QR code or click the Pay Now button and follow the payment process.
When you choose to collect with Ozow, you’re choosing safety and security
Our collections products have been designed and built using the latest technology and comply with the highest international safety and security standards. We also work closely with the banks, regulators and our security partners to ensure that data is kept safe and secure. We are PCI level 1 compliant and are registered with PASA as a systems operator.
On top of this, no matter which product you choose to collect with, payment details and amounts are pre-populated via the Ozow API, removing the risk of human error and fraud. And once a payment is made through Ozow, no proof of payment is required as the payment is done in real time and cannot be reversed.
What Ozow has achieved on behalf of our merchants
The list of blue chip brands who trust Ozow is an extensive one, but at the end of the day it’s the results we’ve achieved on behalf of those merchants that really count. To that end, Ozow increased one of South Africa’s biggest lender’s EFT collections 150x in thirty days. And we doubled a JSE listed homeware provider’s collection rate in just 90 days.
If we can do that for them, we can do it for you. To find out more about Ozow Collections, contact clientsuccess@ozow.com.
