Many South Africans have been in that sucky situation where your power goes out late at night, and you have to somehow find a way to buy prepaid electricity. This usually necessitates a trip to the nearest shop or garage which requires you to pay cash“¦. Blah, blah blah, you know the drill.
I have recently been using an app called Powertime which installs on your iPhone (Blackberry is also available) and enables you to buy electricity at any time of day, and for any electricity meter you have registered with them. When you go to the Powertime website, you register your electricity meter (you can register more than one as well), with some of your details. You also register your credit card, and then you fax them a copy of your credit card and your ID book. And that is the only “œwork“ from your end (this is still less work than the numerous trips to the shop and back“¦).
While these types of solutions have existed on the web for quite some time in SA, this is the first mobile implementation that I have come across that is so polished and easy to use. Where every other site is exercise in frustration, Powertime is quick and easy to use. Proof that there are some great iPhone developers in South Africa“¦The developers have recently added a few cool new features – like a tool that predicts your usage, and then also pushes a notification to your phone to remind you that your electricity is about to run out (every time I buy electricity I also just enter my current readout, and over time it builds its predictions). For example, my Powertime lets me know once my meter reaches 50 units. And its surprisingly accurate. I also appreciate the statistics that it gives me regarding my electricity usage:
They also added the ability to buy airtime from Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, which is easier than using WIG menus from banks, or having to go to internet banking websites…
This is one of those tools that I appreciate – while I can purchase electricity online quite easily, I really appreciate the convenience of Powertime on my phone.
PS: Powertime App was acclaimed on September 29th at the international Mobile Web in Africa conference in Johannesburg, receiving the top award at the App Factor competition.
