General7.06.2011

Secure payments from your cellphone now available with Striata

Electronic billing specialist, Striata, is partnering with bill platform and payments provider, POCiT, to provide a simple, secure bill payment process for the South African market using cellular phone payment technology.

Striata delivers millions of electronic invoices on behalf of South Africa’s largest bill issuers. Says Striata SA Managing Director, Alison Treadaway; “Consumers have never been more eager to adopt convenient electronic processes, and enabling payment from within a print, email or cellphone bill gives them the power to make immediate payment via a secure process.”

MD Striata SA

Alison Treadaway MD of Striata SA

POCiT is a registered payer service provider that enables secure, easy to use cellphone and Web interfaces for the execution of bill payments. “I’m excited about the opportunities created by the partnership with Striata,” says POCiT Managing Director David Reynders, “POCiT has proven the success of cellphone bill payments in the South African market. Our process complies with South African banking and communications legislation and digital safety controls. We have also been awarded PCI-DSS certification, the highest level of data security issued in the industry by Trustwave.”

Treadaway believes the African market has unique requirements borne out of its population profile and the sizeable penetration of cellphone usage. “With over 50 million mobile accounts in SA and the increasing popularity of smartphones, the ability to reach and empower consumers is at an all time high,” says Treadaway. “Not only is the cellphone a device carried by most of the economically active population, but it also provides a second layer of security and trust when exchanging personal information”.

For this reason, Striata has chosen to launch a bill payment process applicable to all bill delivery methods and available through multiple interfaces; namely Web, WAP, USSD and mobile application.
Consumers register for bill payment through a secure cellphone or web application and thereafter are able to pay future bills via a unique one-click process from the email or MMS bill. “This closes the payment loop for billers.” Says Treadaway.

Reynders explains the many benefits to bill issuers: “Shorter payment cycles, operational cost savings, and simple reconciliation processes. But there’s another long-term benefit; by making life easier for customers, you increase the affinity that people have with your brand. A difficult payment experience can have a significant impact on the way a brand is perceived”.

The partnership will enable easy payment and greater convenience for consumers who are becoming increasingly comfortable with technology – and for companies, it means getting paid faster, a win-win all round.

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