Ozow uses RelyComply AI to fix sketchy merchant onboarding

Trust issues meet AI muscle, and Ozow just picked RelyComply to make merchant onboarding less sketchy and way harder to game.

What this partnership is about

• RelyComply teamed up with Ozow.
• The goal is to tighten merchant onboarding without slowing businesses down.
• Thousands of merchants get a smoother start, with fewer fraud headaches baked in.

Why payments are getting riskier

• South Africa’s payment scene has gone all-in on digital.
• Account-to-account transfers, mobile payments, and vouchers are everyday tools.
• More digital activity also means more room for fake IDs, mule accounts, and shady business setups.

Where fraud actually sneaks in

• The onboarding stage is the weakest link.
• Bad actors slip through using false identities or bogus registrations.
• Once inside the system, they become expensive problems.

How the tech changes the game

• RelyComply’s AI-driven verification is now built straight into Ozow’s onboarding flow.
• High-risk profiles get flagged early, before any money moves.
• The result is a cleaner payment ecosystem for merchants, customers, and the platform itself.

What RelyComply is saying

• CEO Bradley Elliott framed onboarding as the moment trust is created.
• His take is that growth without smarter AML controls just scales risk.
• This partnership leans into secure growth, not growth at any cost.

Why this matters for Ozow

• Ozow’s whole pitch is simple, safe, and accessible payments.
• Stronger compliance boosts confidence on both sides of a transaction.
• Merchants get credibility, customers get peace of mind.

Ozow’s view from the inside

• Interim CEO Rachel Cowan said safety and reliability stay front and center as Ozow scales.
• The partnership is positioned as protection, not friction.

The bigger takeaway

• Payments are only as trustworthy as the people allowed in.
• AI-led onboarding shuts the door earlier on fraud.
• Ozow and RelyComply are betting that secure systems grow faster in the long run.