Reaching new grounds with PaygOps’ Offline Activation feature

PaygOps is thrilled to release a new feature to enable offline activation of devices for cash payment in areas where the access to internet and GSM is limited or nonexistent.

While Digital Finance Services, such as Mobile Money, are providing the unbanked and underserved with an alternative to traditional banking services, for the customers living in the most remote areas where there is no access to internet nor GSM, the use of Mobile Money is impossible and payments need to be made by cash.

As a consequence, the quality of service to customers as well as operational costs are not optimized to maximise business value, with agents having to collect cash payments, go back to the office to register the payment in the Paygo platform and re-schedule an appointment with the customer to activate the device. And this, each time a customer makes a down payment to register as a new client, pays additional days of energy, and/or in the case of people paying for small amounts of days (3-7 days) at a time.

In order to provide more flexibility for the agents on the field, a better service to the customers and a live tracking of operations for the management team, PaygOps is now offering its Offline Activation feature that empowers last-mile distributors to run smooth operations when having to collect cash from customers in regions where access to the internet or mobile networks are non-existent.

How does it work? Through an easy-to-use interface, the field agent can register the cash payment through PaygOps Mobile App and generate, in a few seconds, a token to activate the device. As soon as the agent returns to an area with mobile internet access, the mobile app will automatically synchronize with the PaygOps platform and the management team will be able to visualize the new information entered on the customer account.

In addition, starting next quarter, PaygOps Offline Activation feature will also support distributors wishing to set up limitations in the number/amount of cash payments that each of their agents can collect every week/month. In areas where cash payments are the norm, agents can simply stop by the nearest Mobile Money kiosk in town to convert the cash money they collected into a mobile payment that will automatically be sent to PaygOps and then registered onto the agent’s sales profile. This is a great alternative for agents to boost their sales objectives and gain in efficiency while having to deal with cash payments.

In a nutshell, PaygOps’ Offline Activation feature will enable your business to grow by bringing your services to locations that have been, up to now, constraining to reach. You will be giving your agents a robust tool and consequently, more flexibility in delivering sales and after-sales services, which also results in more transparency for the managing team to keep track of payments and device activations at all times.

This feature is already available with OpenPAYGO Token-enabled devices, as well as Biolite, Amped Innovation and other brands with an Angaza supported firmware inside. Many more brands to come!

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About Solaris Offgrid:

Solaris Offgrid supports distributors of essential services to build strong customer traction and greater relations with investors through flexible and inclusive Paygo solutions, designed for last-mile operations. Adopting a bottom up approach in the design of its solutions and creating synergies with a strong network of partners to solve last-mile challenges, the company has already deployed Paygo solutions in more than 30 countries through PaygOps, Solaris Offgrid in-house software solution built “In the Field, for the Field” and its product development services. Leading reference in the off-grid solar market, PaygOps, is engineered to deliver modular and interoperable solutions to address off-grid energy access challenges and distribution complexity. For more information on PaygOps, please contact [email protected].