A South African couple hopes to launch a “pay later” prepaid electricity concept aimed at helping households keep the lights on when electricity runs out before month-end.
WattWallet, founded in 2025 by Keagan and Zhaida Juries, is a pilot project designed to offer households a small, short-term electricity advance that can be repaid at month-end with a modest service fee.
“The idea is a pilot project where households who run out of prepaid electricity before month-end can get a small electricity advance to keep the lights on. The advance would be paid back at month-end with a small service fee and under clear rules,” said Juries.
Unlike traditional fintech platforms, WattWallet is designed as a lightweight, text-based system rather than a data-heavy smartphone application, reflecting the realities of users with limited access to smartphones or mobile data.
Julies said they have built the working prototype and designed core app functions.
While the platform is not yet live, he said the focus is on planning and compliance before launching any transactions.
“I’m focused on planning it properly, setting limits, writing the rules and making sure it’s fair and responsible before anything starts,” he said. “I’m doing this as a test to see if people need it, if they follow the rules and if the idea can work in real life.”
As part of the pilot, the founders conducted a survey among 75 households in their community in Cape Town. According to Juries, 84% of respondents said a small electricity buffer would help them while 9.3% said it would be somewhat helpful.
When asked why they typically run out of electricity 38.7% cited unavailable funds, 30.7% unexpected use, 14.7% forgetting to buy electricity and 14.7% said they do not closely monitor use.
“Most households don’t run out of electricity because they’re irresponsible. They run out because life happens before month-end,” said Juries.
Based on the findings WattWallet has launched a BackaBuddy campaign to fund a 30-day prepaid electricity pilot.
“The funds raised will be used to run a one-month community pilot, covering electricity buffers for participating households and basic operating costs. The pilot will allow us to test whether the idea works in real life before building anything bigger,” said Juries.
He said the campaign would also help cover compliance costs, ensure transparency and test the system responsibly.
The concept emerges against a backdrop of growing household financial strain. According to the latest FinMark Trust survey released alongside the Responsible Finance Forum, 75% of adults who borrowed in 2024 used credit to cover essentials such as food.
The survey, which was conducted among 5,600 adults aged 16 and over, found an estimated 10-million South Africans are over-indebted, with 37% of formal credit borrowers struggling with repayments. When informal borrowing is included the number rises to about 12-million adults facing financial distress.
Around 72% of adults, roughly 32-million people, live in households earning less than R140,000 a year, with many relying on state grants or family support.
The initiative also comes as South Africans face the prospect of higher electricity costs.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has admitted it made a calculation error when it approved Eskom’s tariffs, resulting in a revenue shortfall of about R76bn.
To recover the shortfall, Eskom has proposed a 10% electricity tariff increase.
Members of the public had until the end of Wednesday to submit comments or objections as part of Nersa’s public participation process.
TimesLIVE
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