Electricity payment facilitator Prepaid24, has launched a new service to allow South Africans to purchase prepaid power through WhatsApp. The initiative is done in collaboration with WhatsApp marketing platform Chat Inc., as well as payment processor Ozow, giving South Africans another easy avenue to managing their utilities.

Get a power trip on WhatsApp with Prepaid24

To do this, customers need to access Prepaid24’s WhatsApp channel on +27 60 012 2010. A simple “Hi” is enough to get the chat started. Sign up to Prepaid24 using their phone number (no forms or redirect links needed).

If users already have an account, they can proceed to the WhatsApp menu, where they can select ‘View Products’, which includes airtime, vouchers, and electricity. From there, users need to enter their info, which entails finding their municipality, entering the meter number, as well as a name for easy reference later, since these details will be saved for next time.

After that, users enter how much they want to pay. Then they will have to choose between two payment methods:

SmartFund, a prepaid wallet that can be topped up via EFT or card. Users can even schedule top-ups, all without fees.
Ozow Instant EFT- which is a secure instant payment portal.

Prepaid24 ensures customers that payments are usually processed in under a minute, after which an electricity token will be sent instantly in your WhatsApp chat. Beyond electricity, users can pay for streaming platforms (video and music), delivery apps, online gaming wallets, as well as retail vouchers.

The initiative covers 95% of all meters and municipalities in the country. If you find yourself in that other 5%, then that’s some terrible luck, friend.

All in all, this gives people one more tool to make paying for utilities easier, not only for the lazy among us but also, more importantly, for those who don’t have easy access to existing methods.