Fintech company ChatFin has recently launched its ChatBack vehicle licence renewal platform in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the North West (NW) provinces.
The company said it has also relaunched the service in the Western Cape, enabling motorists there to renew their vehicle licences via WhatsApp Business API.
With ChatBack, Chatfin promises that it will take less than two minutes for motorists to renew their vehicle licences.
Chatfin initially unveiled the service in Gauteng and the Western Cape in November 2019, after teaming up with Infobip, a global cloud communication company for businesses. Infobip enabled WhatsApp WhatsApp Business API platform for ChatFin.
To access the service, motorists need to go to WhatsApp, find the ChatBack website, or add ChatBack (+27 66 202 6685) to their contacts and then text “renew” on WhatsApp to get started.
The company said the platform’s objective was to provide an easy and service for South Africans to renew their vehicle licences.
While the platform was successfully rolled out in Gauteng, it had a rocky start in the Western Cape.
ChatFin director Jan Kotzé said the company initially worked with a partner to provide the vehicle licence renewals in the two provinces. Unfortunately, the partner could not cope with the huge volumes in the Western Cape, prompting ChatFin to scale back the service in that region.
“The initial uptake was huge, and as such, we decided to build our capacity and drive the entire business process ourselves rather than using a partner. We launched ChatBack again in the Western Cape on 1 February this year, and the service has been working extremely well,” he says.
Kotzé said the Western Cape licensing department supported Chatfin because they had a good relationship. That enabled the company to service the entire province from a single point in Cape Town.
ChatFin’s WhatsApp vehicle renewal service is a South African first.
“ChatBack was specifically built to alleviate the frustrations that car owners face when renewing their license, in an effortless experience over WhatsApp. It was important for us to choose the right WhatsApp Business API provider, and Infobip met all the criteria. Their experience, expertise, and vast global client base made them the ideal partner,” says Kotzé.
He noted that the uptake of the service was strong in Gauteng since its inception, with more than 150 000 transactions coming through the ChatBack app.
“We have a better conversion rate than eCommerce sites and currently do about 2 000 transactions a month. This is despite us reducing our marketing due to Covid-19,” said Kotzé, adding that last year’s hard lockdown impacted the service as licensing departments closed.
“With the possibility of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic arriving soon, our expansion will provide vehicle owners across the greater part of South Africa with the opportunity to renew their licences in a safe, fast, convenient, and contactless manner. Our target is to reach 10 000 transactions per day.”