Simplicity. Convenience. Speed.
Technology allows us to do incredibly complex, time-consuming things in an instant. We went from confusion and counting on our hands, to abacuses, then calculators, and finally computers and the internet. When complexity holds humanity back from moving forward, innovation is essential.
If you’ve ever wondered, this innovation is often led by technology known as digital overlays (sometimes also referred to as screen scraping). They’re a simple, efficient way to translate complex data into something that can be understood by anyone.
In the world of payments, these play an important role. Digital overlay services are to payments what calculators are to maths problems. At Ozow, we use this technology to collect information from your bank and display it in a simple and convenient way on our platform.
We aren’t the only, or the first, company to use digital overlay services either. They’ve been around for ages.
Since they were developed in the 1980s, digital overlay services have been used for many reasons by a variety of trusted industries. Banks, payment providers, financial management apps, personal finance dashboards, and accounting products all use these services. It’s how they gather their customers’ financial information with their permission, and it’s what helps them to display this in a simple and easy interface for the customers to use.
Remember that – permission. We’ll touch on that a little later.
Security is paramount
At Ozow, we know how important it is to keep your data safe. That’s why we have extremely stringent measures in place to keep your information secure.
When using Ozow, you’ll be asked to enter your banking credentials for you to select the bank account you want to pay from. This information is encrypted and sent straight to the bank (in other words, nobody can see your information besides you and the bank – not even us).
A very important part of processing your payments is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This is where your permission for us to use your banking information and facilitate your payments comes in. You’ll get a message from your bank, either in your banking app, over USSD, or with a one-time pin (OTP), asking you to approve any payment you make through Ozow. If you don’t approve it, the payment won’t be processed, and we won’t take any money out of your account.
Payments for everyone
Our goal will always be to simplify people’s lives by making payments even easier, quicker, and more secure.
One of the most important ways we will be able to do this is to use your bank’s Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Simply put, these APIs enable companies like Ozow to develop payment solutions that make it even easier for you transact, from wherever and at any time.
We’re working on getting these set up with the banks. So, in the meantime, we need a backup plan. While we get these sorted out, we use digital overlay services to ensure that you’re still able to pay using Ozow.
Simplicity. Convenience. Speed. That’s what digital overlay services give you, as an Ozow user.
Security. That’s what Ozow commits to when you use us as a payment option. No matter what.
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