Ozow is South Africa’s leading payment gateway, offering an extensive range of payment solutions for businesses of all sizes. Established in 2018, Ozow has seen rapid growth in the country and has become an invaluable asset for merchants transitioning from traditional payment methods to more secure and convenient digital solutions. With Ozow’s fast set-up time, low transaction fees and risk management protocols, it’s no wonder why this solution is becoming increasingly popular among South African companies.
The benefits of using Ozow as a payment gateway are considerable. First and foremost, there is the added convenience of accepting payments in one central location. Businesses no longer have to manage multiple systems or suffer from long set-up times – transactions can be quickly completed with minimal downtime. In addition, Ozow streamlines the process by helping merchants reduce their exposure to fraud or manage their risks more effectively by providing detailed reporting tools which analyse every transaction. Furthermore, this platform also considers currency conversion charges which translates into smoother transactions across multiple currencies with no additional service fees required. Finally, Ozow allows for quick payouts (within 24 hours) ensuring merchants receive their funds faster without manual reconciliation.
Overview of Ozow
Ozow is a fast-growing South African payment gateway that recently scored a $48 million round led by Tencent. This is evidence of the success of this payment gateway in the South African market.
In this article we will look in-depth at Ozow and its features, advantages, and impact on the South African payments industry.
Ozow’s History
Originally founded in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ozow is a payment service provider (PSP) specialising in online and mobile payment solutions. It processes payments for multiple currencies and has since expanded to countries such as Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Over time, Ozow has become one of the most reliable payment providers in the country offering low-cost services to its customers.
Ozow’s main objective is to make digital payments accessible, fast and easy for customers. In 2018 alone, the company processed over $2 billion worth of payments in South Africa and received multiple awards from leading business publications including Fast Company awarded them with the ‘Most Innovative Mobile Payment Platform’ award.
The company aims to revolutionise how businesses process payments by providing fully integrated services with industry-leading technological advancements. Its suite of products includes web checkout solutions, mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) solutions, card readers for local debit cards and an open API platform that connects merchants directly with banks so they can accept direct deposits from their customers without having to share their financial details.
As a proud member of Mastercard Innovation Forum, Ozow has worked closely with Visa and Mastercard to further extend its range of products, including contactless technology enabling customers to make fast seamless payments with compatible phones or devices like Apple Pay or Samsung Pay. With a focus on protecting consumer’s data privacy and upholding high anti-fraud standards, Ozow offers merchants maximum security when it comes to online transactions as well as other business activities making it an increasingly popular choice among businesses both big and small one more reason why you would choose Ozow as your preferred payment gateway!
The Ozow Difference
Ozow is an ever-evolving payment gateway providing services that make it easy for businesses to process payments. They offer a comprehensive suite of payment solutions for businesses, from merchants, retailers and service providers to large enterprises. With their simple, user-friendly design and advanced features, Ozow makes managing payments and tracking customer information easier.
The Ozow Difference What makes Ozow stand out is their strong commitment to providing superior customer service and secure transaction processing. They understand that customers’ protection and privacy are paramount for online payments, so their system is built with top-notch security protocols. All information transmitted through the system — including credit card numbers — are encrypted using state of the art encryption algorithms to ensure maximum protection against online fraud and identity theft.
Additionally, they accept various payment options ranging from major debit cards such as VISA and MasterCard to bank transfers and even more alternative payment methods such as eWallets like PayPal and Bitcoin. This makes it easy for businesses to serve global customers worldwide — regardless of their location or currency.
They also provide comprehensive reporting capabilities that let you access real-time data on sales performance, transaction details and more; giving you detailed insights into how your business is doing at any given time so you can make informed decisions about how best to optimise your bottom line.
Ozow’s Funding
Since its inception in 2018, South African payment gateway Ozow has quickly become a leader in the country’s digital payments landscape. With a modernised, user-friendly experience, Ozow offers merchants easier and more efficient ways to process payments with minimal onboarding time and no long-term contracts.
This success can be attributed to the company’s commitment to funding and investment. Ozow has raised over $20 million in venture capital from top investors, allowing them to create an award-winning product offering designed to make payments simple for businesses and consumers.
Their biggest round of $14 million was led by Partech Ventures, with additional investments from Velo Partners and FMO SOLIDARITÉS INVESTISSEMENTS PARTENAIRES. Thanks to their strong base of investors, Ozow can develop new solutions that are fast, secure and convenient for customers across the continent. From their mobile app which allows customers to pay without sharing banking details to their real-time notifications which track spending in one platform, Ozow makes transacting hassle free while promoting financial inclusion in Africa’s digital economy.
South African Payment Gateway Ozow Scores $48 Million in Round Led by Tencent
Ozow is a South African payment gateway that has recently scored a whopping $48 million in a round led by Tencent. However, this payment gateway boasts a lot of advantages that make it an attractive choice for businesses.
It provides an easy and secure way to accept online payments, and its fees are among the industry’s lowest.
This article will examine the benefits of choosing Ozow as your payment gateway.
Low Fees
One of the main advantages of using Ozow is its low fees. Ozow charges a flat fee of 1.95% per EFT transaction and a low 3% fee for credit card transactions, making it one of the more affordable payment solutions on the market. In addition to these flat fees, there are no monthly or setup charges, so you can get your ecommerce website up and running at minimal cost. Ozow also offers extensive integration options that make accepting payments from South African customers easy on any platform. This means you can provide customers with an effective and secure payment system while maintaining your pricing strategy and customer service quality.
Another major benefit of using Ozow is its fast processing times. All transactions are processed in real time, so customers don’t have to wait long to receive their products or services. Furthermore, since all payments are securely managed by a certified payment gateway provider (like Ozow), you save time by not having to handle customer data or manually process payments. In this way, you can keep costs down while providing your customers with an efficient payment experience they can rely on.
Security & Fraud Protection
Ozow’s payment gateway is designed with robust security and fraud protection measures to ensure a secure online transaction when purchasing online. The technology used by Ozow helps protect against data theft, unauthorised transactions and identity theft. In addition, utilising tokenization, server side authentication and 3D Secure reduces the risk of payment fraud considerably.
Tokenization converts customer card details into tokens sent over encrypted connections from your client device to the payment platform — safeguarding sensitive information from getting into the wrong hands. Moreover, customers will also be subject to secure on-boarding including mobile Verified by Visa, MasterCard IDCheck, and other guardrails such as Velocity checking and BIN range restriction, which all help further guarantee user safety.
For merchants’ peace of mind, all customer payments made via Ozow’s payment gateway are monitored 24/7 for suspicious transactions through its advanced AI-driven fraud detection engine called ‘Aptaigh’. Aptaigh provides merchants with actionable intelligence whether a customer’s transaction is risky or trustworthy based on their preference settings — thus making it easier to detect fraudulent activity in real-time without needing manual intervention.
Easy Integration
Ozow is an easy to use, secure South African payment gateway that enables merchants to accept various payment types from their customers. Integration of Ozow into merchant sites happens quickly and securely and requires minimal effort from the merchant. Merchants can easily integrate Ozow on their e-commerce website, mobile application, or point-of-sale system.
Ozow supports integration with all popular shopping carts, such as WooCommerce and Shopify. Integration of Ozow into website portals can be completed within minutes, and the user will acquire a full set of features immediately after signing in. Moreover, its easy “drag and drop” feature ensures merchants can set up its user interface with little hassle.
The transactions routed through Ozow are secure due to its reliable encryption techniques; moreover, all transactions are stored in its PCI Data Security Standard certified environment for maximum data protection. This assures the customers that their payments are made securely. Additionally, it has attractive revenue models for recurrent billing which is a great revenue stream option for most merchants which can potentially increase sales figures significantly.
Overall, Ozow makes it effortless for the merchant to easily handle payments and enhance customer experience by providing a reliable payment platform with minimum resources required.
Wide Range of Payment Options
With Ozow, merchants in South Africa can offer their customers an extensive range of payment methods. This makes it easier for customers to pay with the payment option that best suits their needs, from low-cost and secure debit card options like Visa Debit or MasterCard Debit to popular online banking services such as Absa, First National Bank, Investec and Standard Bank. Ozow also allows for payments using Cash Send wallets, offering added convenience when making and receiving payments.
In addition to this extensive range of payment options, Ozow also accepts payments through digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. This offers customers another easy and secure way to pay while allowing merchants to benefit from the increased customer base these digital payment solutions bring. In addition, the integration process is simple enabling businesses to quickly start delivering a seamless buying experience with multiple integrated payment solutions under one platform.
By offering various payment methods, Ozow simplifies the customer experience before and after checkout – providing seamless online transactions at every turn with support for both international and South African currencies. Their goal is clear: create easy-to-use interfaces designed with a focus on customer satisfaction – giving businesses the power to drive sales in all major markets worldwide without any hassle or extra cost.