# Payout to voucher

> Paying money out from your Ozow float as a voucher.

Source: https://hub.ozow.com/payment-products/payout/payout-to-voucher/

Payout to voucher sends money to someone's cellphone number as a voucher they can redeem in cash or
spend in store, no bank account needed.

It solves the problem bank payouts can't: a large share of South Africans are unbanked or
underbanked, and many are hesitant to provide their bank details for a once-off payment.

Payouts to voucher run from the same integration as [payouts to bank](https://hub.ozow.com/payment-products/payout/payout-to-bank.md), so you
don't build twice.

## How a payout works

1. You submit a payout with the recipient's cellphone number and the amount.
2. Ozow confirms the payout is genuinely intended before any money moves, through your verification
   webhook if you're using the API, or an approval if you're uploading from the Dashboard.
3. The recipient receives a voucher on their phone.
4. They redeem it at a participating store, for cash, or to spend in store.
5. Ozow notifies your system of the final status.

There is no customer-facing step. The whole flow happens between your backend and Ozow.

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    participant M as Your system
    participant O as Ozow
    participant R as Recipient bank

    M->>O: Checks payout availability
    M->>O: Sends payout request
    O->>M: Calls your verification webhook
    M-->>O: Confirms the payout
    O->>R: Submits the payout to the bank
    R-->>O: Confirms the outcome
    O-->>M: Notifies your webhook of the final status
```

## Enabling payouts to voucher

The process is the same as for bank payouts, and just as strict:

**1. Approval.** Speak to your account manager. Ozow reviews your use case before payouts are enabled.

**2. Staging testing.** Complete the [payout test
cases](https://hub.ozow.com/integration-methods/testing/payout-test-cases.md) in staging. Mandatory, with evidence
required.

**3. Sign-off.** Ozow signs off on your staging results before payouts are enabled in production.

You'll also need a **funded float**. Voucher payouts draw on the same float as bank payouts. See
[Float top-up](https://hub.ozow.com/payment-products/settlements-and-float/float-top-up.md).

If you already have bank payouts enabled, adding vouchers is a smaller step; talk to your account
manager rather than assuming it's automatically available.

> ⚠️ **Payments from your customers don't fund your float.** When a customer pays you, that money is
> settled to your bank account. Your float is separate, and you fund it yourself by transferring
> money to Ozow. A busy sales day doesn't give you more capacity to refund or pay out; only a top-up
> does.

> ℹ️ Need a different arrangement? Speak to your account manager if you'd like your incoming
> payments to flow into your float rather than being settled to your bank account. Ozow approves
> these at its discretion based on your use case; approval isn't guaranteed.

## Things to know

**The cellphone number is the destination.** There's no account name to check against, so a mistyped
number sends money to whoever holds that number. Validate numbers before you submit, and be more
careful here than you would be with a bank payout; a bank account at least fails on an invalid
number.

**Vouchers can be forwarded.** Once a recipient has a voucher they may be able to pass it on. Treat
a voucher as cash: once it's sent to a number, control of it has left your hands.

**A redeemed voucher can't be reversed.** If you send to the wrong person and they redeem it, the
money is gone. Contact Ozow Support immediately if you spot an error, but don't count on recovery.

**Vouchers expire.** An unredeemed voucher doesn't sit there indefinitely, so tell your recipients
to redeem promptly, and expect some proportion never to be redeemed.

**Your recipient needs to reach a store.** Bank payouts arrive wherever the recipient is; a voucher
needs a trip to a participating outlet.

**Payouts come from your float**, not from your incoming payments. If the float is empty, payouts
won't process.

## Integrating payouts to voucher

Voucher payouts use the same Payouts API as bank payouts, you send a cellphone number instead of
bank account details.

**Bulk payouts from the Dashboard**: upload a CSV, no development required.
→ [Bulk payouts](https://hub.ozow.com/integration-methods/no-code/bulk-payouts.md)

**Payouts API**: submit voucher payouts from your own system, individually or in volume.
→ [Send a payout](https://hub.ozow.com/integration-methods/apis/payout/send-a-payout.md)

**Before you go live**: [Payout test cases](https://hub.ozow.com/integration-methods/testing/payout-test-cases.md)

**Status handling**: voucher payouts use the same statuses as bank payouts. See [Transaction and
settlement statuses](https://hub.ozow.com/integration-methods/statuses.md).