Payout to voucher
Paying money out from your Ozow float as a voucher.
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Build with AI 1 package
A build package is every page for one task, with the API operations they use. Copy the prompt into a coding assistant, or hand it the package itself: slim links to each page, full inlines all of them in one document.
- Send a payoutEverything needed to pay money out to a customer's bank account or voucher with the Payouts API, including how to exercise the failure paths before going live.
PayoutPayout Money sent from a merchant to a bank account. Unlike a refund, a payout is not tied to a payment anyone made you, so you can pay anyone with a bank account. Payouts draw on your float rather than on your incoming payments, and they are not self-service: they need approval from Ozow and testing in staging first. 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, so you don't build twice.
How a payout works
- You submit a payout with the recipient's cellphone number and the amount.
- Ozow confirms the payout is genuinely intended before any money moves, through your verification webhookWebhook A URL of yours that Ozow calls when something happens, rather than you polling to find out. The call carries no credential of yours and arrives at a public URL, so authenticate it before acting on it: a hash field on the Payments API, a Svix signature on One API. if you're using the API, or an approval if you're uploading from the Dashboard.
- The recipient receives a voucher on their phone.
- They redeem it at a participating store, for cash, or to spend in store.
- Ozow notifies your system of the final status.
There is no customer-facing step. The whole flow happens between your backend and Ozow.
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 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 floatFloat The balance held with Ozow that payouts and refunds are paid out of. Both draw on it, and neither will process while it is empty. Payins do not need one, so if you only take payments you never meet it.. Voucher payouts draw on the same float as bank payouts. See Float top-up.
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.
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
Payouts API: submit voucher payouts from your own system, individually or in volume. → Send a payout
Before you go live: Payout test cases
Status handling: voucher payouts use the same statuses as bank payouts. See Transaction and settlement statuses.
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