Ozow has partnered with First National Bank (FNB) and Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to launch a new API-driven payment solution that enhances how account-to-account payments are processed for FNB and RMB clients.
Enabled through Ozow’s platform, the payment API allows merchants to process payments directly via FNB and RMB’s banking infrastructure, replacing traditional electronic fund transfer (EFT) processes with a more secure, real-time, authorisation-led experience.
For Ozow, FNB represents one of its largest transacting bank partners by volume, underscoring the scale and strategic importance of the integration.
The partnership also reflects a growing trend across South Africa’s payments ecosystem, where collaboration between banks, fintechs and infrastructure providers is enabling more standardised, secure and scalable digital payment solutions.
Rachel Cowan, interim-CEO of Ozow, says the partnership builds on the company’s role in enabling more integrated, interoperable payment solutions.
“Account-to-account payments have always been central to Ozow’s model, and partnerships like this are critical in advancing a more connected payments ecosystem. By working closely with FNB and RMB, we can deliver a solution that improves payment performance, enhances security, and simplifies how merchants manage transactions at scale,” says Cowan.
Unlike traditional Pay by Bank methods, which often rely on manual processes or screen scraping, the payment API is built on direct bank API integrations.
At checkout, customers select the FNB/RMB payment option and enter their bank account number. A secure payment request is sent via Ozow to FNB or RMB, prompting the customer to authenticate the transaction within the FNB or RMB App using familiar security methods such as PIN or biometrics.
Once authorised, the transaction is processed in real time, with funds credited and the payment outcome confirmed instantly.
For FNB/RMB clients, this model removes the need for credential sharing, eliminates manual EFT steps, and reduces the common points of failure associated with traditional payment flows. This means a more secure, seamless and faster cashflow benefit, through real-time settlement.
For merchants, the payment API for FNB and RMB addresses several long-standing challenges in EFT-based payments.
The solution introduces:
- Higher completion rates through real-time, in-app customer authorization
- Improved operational efficiency with automated processing and reduced manual reconciliation
- Predictable cash flow via real-time settlement
- Enhanced security and fraud mitigation enabled by bank-grade authentication and OAuth-secured access
Payments are settled through a single, aggregated payout, simplifying reconciliation and reducing administrative complexity for businesses.
Merchants can enable the payment API for FNB and RMB without any additional integration, as it is embedded within their existing Ozow implementation.
Bradley Shodries, head of payments and strategic solutions for commercial and corporate transactional banking at FNB and RMB, says the launch reflects the bank’s broader strategy to enable secure, API-driven payments through collaboration.
“The launch of the payment API for FNB and RMB reflects our continued focus on enabling secure, API-driven payment solutions that simplify how customers and businesses transact. By partnering with Ozow, we are extending our banking infrastructure into the broader digital commerce ecosystem, allowing merchants to offer a more seamless and trusted account-to-account payment experience.”