{"id":367814,"date":"2020-01-22T15:37:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-22T13:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=367814"},"modified":"2020-01-22T15:37:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T13:37:00","slug":"massive-number-of-south-africans-are-using-whatsapp-to-renew-their-car-licences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/mobile\/367814\/massive-number-of-south-africans-are-using-whatsapp-to-renew-their-car-licences\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive number of South Africans are using WhatsApp to renew their car licences"},"content":{"rendered":"

ChatBack<\/strong><\/a>, which allows motorists to renew their car licence through WhatsApp, has seen a massive uptake from South Africans.<\/p>\n

Speaking to MyBroadband, ChatBack CEO Jan Kotze said a recent peak in activity saw them receive 44,000 messages in one day from South Africans who wanted to have their car licences renewed.<\/p>\n

This followed soon after the launch of the service in November 2019.<\/p>\n

The demand is thanks to ChatBack\u2019s ability to take care of \u201cunpleasant necessities\u201d \u2013 like renewing a licence \u2013 in a safe and easy-to-use way, said Kotze.<\/p>\n

How it works<\/h3>\n

Kotze said the renewal process takes only a few minutes and customers can expect their new licence disk to be delivered within five days.<\/p>\n

The ChatBack websites lists the four steps to renew your vehicle licence as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Submit your vehicle registration number.<\/li>\n
  2. Get a quote and make payment via PayFast.<\/li>\n
  3. Specify your delivery address and attach a copy or photo of your ID document and proof of residence.<\/li>\n
  4. Check the status of your licence renewal by sending \u201cstatus\u201d to the ChatBack WhatsApp number.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ChatBack will also send customers a reminder when their vehicle licence is up for renewal the following year.<\/p>\n

    Secure service<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Kotze said ChatBack is a first-of-its-kind in the licence renewal space, and the service has been approved by WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen you look at the ChatBack number on WhatsApp, you will see that there is a green tick. This means it is a WhatsApp-approved service,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    To ensure user information is kept safe at all times, which is a must when accepting details required to renew a car licence, Kotze said they have put world-class data-protection measures in place.<\/p>\n

    ChatBack has also partnered with Infobip and local financial institutions to ensure that its service meets all security requirements.<\/p>\n

    Offer to work with RTMC<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Kotze also addressed a recent statement by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) which warned South Africans about the WhatsApp renewal service.<\/p>\n

    RTMC spokesperson Simon Zwane said the service has not been sanctioned by the organisation, and cautioned those using it.<\/p>\n

    Kotze said the ChatBack service meets international requirements when it comes to security and data protection, and reiterated that it has been approved by WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

    He added that ChatBack did approach the RTMC before it launched with an offer to work together for improved licence renewals, but the RTMC declined.<\/p>\n

    Although they did not take up the offer to work with ChatBack, Kotze still believes there is a great opportunity for more South Africans to renew their license using the service.<\/p>\n

    He went on to state that WhatsApp, as part of its policy, does not work directly with governments \u2013 and their business therefore provides a great avenue for governments to reach citizens.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThere is a nice fit, as we can work as a channel which takes private individuals through WhatsApp to government services.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Big plans for the future<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Currently, ChatBack is focussed on serving Gauteng \u2013 but an expansion to other areas is a consideration for the company.<\/p>\n

    There are several other projects in the pipeline, too, including the ability to help users deal with enforcement orders which can prevent them from renewing their licence.<\/p>\n

    Kotze said a \u201cget back with ChatBack\u201d initiative was also on the cards, which would provide users with coupons from partner companies that would exceed the cost of using their service.<\/p>\n

    \u201cMore details will be released soon,\u201d said Kotze.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Read: South Africans can now renew their car licence on WhatsApp<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ChatBack, which allows motorists to renew their car licence through WhatsApp, has seen a massive uptake from South Africans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":245533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-367814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mobile","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367816,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367814\/revisions\/367816"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}