DebiCheck payment platform 'running well'

The DebiCheck payment platform has been live since 2020 at NuPay and formally replaced EDO in May 2021 in the industry. At the onset, the system presented some challenges in the interpretation and application of the processing rules between the different banks as well as with systems operators, which we refer to as systems maturity, or rather, the lack thereof in this case.

Vaughn Hechter, Head: Customer Services, NuPay & Delter.

---

This caused several challenges in the industry where rules were applied inconsistently between the various role players, which in turn led to other challenges such as transactions being disputed when, in actual fact, they were not supposed to be allowed to be reversed. The interpretation and understanding of changing terminology furthermore complicated the payment stream as all role players, including consumers, had to get to grips with the new lingo.

Fast forward two years and many incidents, both large and small, some with significant impact and others less so, and the system's “maturity” is starting to show. Enhancements are being planned within the rule sets to further allow for a better solution and better user experience.

There are still a few niggles here and there, but, for the most part, the system is running well and is stable. There will always be those that dislike some of the functionality and have ideas on how to better the solution for themselves; however, the system is designed to produce a platform that is fair in its application of the rules for all parties, being the banks, the systems operators, the users or merchants and, very importantly, the consumers. Systems such as DebiCheck also take into consideration legislation such as POPIA and the associated rights of all that are impacted by this.

The EDO payment stream allowed for date adjustments to roll back to business days prior to weekends and public holidays. It has been proven that businesses apply this rule themselves when paying salaries and especially during December when employees receive funds much earlier into their bank accounts.

In South Africa, consumers in general have a challenge with budgeting and financial planning, and systems with rules such as the above in EDO assist consumers to plan better as they know exactly what their financial position is and how to better manage their finances when their bank balance reflects their factual position. Unfortunately, the system also allows for consumers to use funds prior to debits processing, allowing consumers to apply “cashflow management” to their financial position, which lands them in hot water over time. It is this very same “cashflow management” challenge, together with rogue users within the NAEDO debit order platform, that caused the drive to launch this new payment stream.

Investigations and planning to enhance and mature the system further are well advanced and will hopefully be deployed soon to curb the challenges that still remain. These enhancements include the addition of tracking days, albeit only in specific months such as December, as well as amendments to the date adjustment rules and how they may be applied, without allowing dishonest disputes to come through from consumers.

Lessons of yesteryear have been learned and debit order abuse with a focus on compliance has become an integral part of the DebiCheck system. Within NuPay we have launched several initiatives to investigate and curb these occurrences of abuse within the system. Our customers are assisted and trained on the correct format of mandates and application of the system. Systems are adapted to your business model in the application of tracking and managing debit dates to allow for optimal collections and success rates. The focus is to ensure that rogue users remain outside of the payment system and the industry can be more compliant, which leads to a healthier credit environment.

Compliance leads to a more sustainable industry for all legitimate businesses that operate within the National Payment System, from credit providers to debt collectors, to rental agencies and insurance brokers. Whatever your business is, the solutions available will cater for your unique requirements and can be tailor-made to fit with the NuPay and Delter solutions.

Altron FinTech, through the NuPay and Delter divisions, will continue to innovate in the financial industry to assist our “family” of business partners to grow your business. We do this through assisting in collection strategies, integrating services and functions to drive efficiencies, onboarding strategies such as strike date analysis, reducing overheads through systems such as paperless contracting and remote agent solutions where you can onboard customers in the field on a mobile device. Consumers can even sign up for insurance cover or apply for credit with your business themselves through online portals.

Our trained consultants will guide you on best practice within the industry to ensure the top strategy within a payments and creditors management system is deployed for your business.