“I have first-hand experience of how InzaloPay’s prepaid electricity and water vouchers have changed lives and communities,” says Carlo Barnard, Business Analytics Manager at InzaloEMS. Carlo was the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) at the Victor Khanye municipality (Delmas) and implemented the programme there.
“When the new pre-paid vouchers were made available… the immediate effect was visible.”
Before InzaloPay’s prepaid vending system was implemented by the municipality, residents could only buy electricity at vending points in town, far from townships and outlying areas. “When the new pre-paid vouchers were made available at retail stores, garages and spaza shops, via the internet, smart phone and banking apps, the immediate effect was visible. It may have been a small thing but it made a huge impact. With our online channels open 24/7 and vendors staying open later than municipal cashiers, I saw the benefit to the community in a big way,” says Barnard.
“I saw the benefit to the community in a big way.”
According to Barnard, the many positive spin-offs were instant. He adds, “The residents gained by not having to spend money on transport to town to buy the tokens. The vendors gained by selling the tokens and receiving a percentage of the sales and getting more foot-traffic into their stores. The municipality gained by saving substantial costs on hefty insurance payments and security personal for the old pay stations, which were continuously vandalised.”
“The municipality gained by saving substantial costs on hefty insurance payments.”
The final straw for changing the system to the vending platform was when one of the satellite municipal offices was burned down due to the frustration of customers. “We just had to find another solution – we could not continue this way. That’s when we started implementing InzaloPay, InzaloEMS’s vendor management platform for the vending of utilities,” says Reegan Smith, Product and Operations Manager at InzaloEMS.
“They (the municipality) include a greater ability to collect revenue on a real-time basis and recover arrears by deducting a portion of money owed at each sale.”
Smith explains, “Through the lens of the municipality, the benefits are huge – they include a greater ability to collect revenue on a real-time basis and recover arrears by deducting a portion of money owed at each sale. Transactions are processed and are posted to the relevant journal within 15 seconds and requires no batch-settlement or reconciliations. This instantaneous process is unique to InzaloEMS, as far as we are aware. And our reporting functions do all the tariff and unit calculations.”
This also means that local government has oversight on sales statistics and consumer trends, and it takes the pressure off municipal cashier points and mitigates the risks of COVID-19 transmissions.
The local government is viewed in a more positive light by the community.
“We could also view the ease of our vendor buy-in as a success story,” says Barnard. Small business growth is stimulated through the municipality as InzaloEMS encourages them to pinpoint local vendors who are desirous of becoming prepaid utility resellers and thus the local government is viewed in a more positive light by the community. In fact, one of the local councillors said it was a brilliant idea as it improved the lives of the community and was a positive show of goodwill from the municipality to its people.
“We have heard countless stories of lives having been positively impacted.”
Barnard concludes excitedly, “We have heard countless stories of lives having been positively impacted, such as a young mother who previously had to walk a long distance into town to the municipal cashiers or people who work six days a week, who would have to arrange with their employer for time off as they could only purchase during office hours or elderly residents who can now ask their younger family members to assist them on the apps.”
InzaloPay is one-of-a-kind and has immeasurably improved the lives of many South Africans.