South African fintech startup Ozow has partnered with First National Bank (FNB) and Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to launch a new API-driven payment solution that enhances how account-to-account payments are processed for FNB and RMB clients, offering merchants greater reliability, security and control.
Ozow, which rebranded from i-Pay in April 2019 as it zeroed in on assisting SMEs with payments, enables millions of merchants and consumers with easy, fast and secure alternative payment solutions, including QR codes, point of sale, e-commerce, e-billing and peer-to-peer payments. It raised a US$48 million Series B funding round in late-2021.
The new API-driven payment solution is enabled through Ozow’s platform, and allows merchants to process payments directly via FNB and RMB’s banking infrastructure, replacing traditional electronic fund transfer (EFT) processes with a more secure, real-time, authorisation-led experience.
Rachel Cowan, interim CEO of Ozow, said the partnership builds on the company’s role in enabling more integrated, interoperable payment solutions.
“Account-to-account payments have always been central to Ozow’s model, and partnerships like this are critical in advancing a more connected payments ecosystem. By working closely with FNB and RMB, we can deliver a solution that improves payment performance, enhances security, and simplifies how merchants manage transactions at scale,” she said.
