Prepaid electricity now available from vending machines

This new service follows the successful launch and roll-out of prepaid airtime vouchers at the end of 2007, and will soon be followed by further prepaid services, such as insurance top-ups, bill payments and money transfers. Psitek aims to regularly roll out new services for Kazang, making it the leading one-stop shop for prepaid solutions in the market.

Providing quick and easy access to content and data services in South Africa, Kazang is conveniently located at outlets such as township spaza or tuck shops, phone shops or retail centres.

Kazang, which relies on wireless communication for the electronic delivery of services to the consumer, was built on the back of Psitek's existing supervised payphone solutions that operate using cellular technology.

Psitek has an expanding network of Kazang Super Dealers, who are the Kazang distributors and act as the point of contact between the holding company and vendors. A commission-based structure ensures that Kazang Super Dealers and vendors are financially rewarded each time prepaid electricity is sold.

Commenting on the diverse range of prepaid services that are in the pipeline, Ian Harrison, managing director of Psitek, points out that convenient access to a practical range of prepaid services will add huge value to the lives of a lot of South Africans. “In South Africa, prepaid services are ideal for people who have an irregular income and no bank account, and who make cash purchases and want immediate access to services the moment they need them. We believe Kazang is the practical and street smart answer to the requirements of this market.”

Harrison continues: “The roll-out of Kazang services also presents an exciting prospect for entrepreneurs to establish and build sustainable and independent businesses. It offers numerous entrepreneurial business opportunities to people with the necessary technical and management skills operating in under-serviced communities.”

In order to extend the range of services, Psitek is continuously identifying content and service providers who want to use Kazang's distribution channel for their products and solutions. This will ensure it is a highly desirable delivery channel for content and service providers that could not previously reach this market.