SOUTH AFRICA – South African fintech company Oyi has launched a new prepaid medical aid card aimed at helping people deal with unexpected expenses.

The Oyi medical card is a savings card for medical spend only and is supported by a secure payments technology. The card eliminates the can only be used to pay for doctors, medical services such as x-rays and blood tests as well as to purchase medicines from any pharmacy.

Tami Ngalo, Chief Executive of Oyi said, “The Oyi medical card enables affordable access to quality healthcare which allows the card holder and their families to seek medical care with dignity. With a social purpose to build healthy communities and sustainable wellness, we make healthcare accessible for everyone”.

Ngola says that the concept is simple, with the Oyi medical card users put money aside at their own pace, be it monthly or as a lump sum and use it specifically to pay doctors and buy medicine.

With three different options to suit different needs, customers can save for your medical expenses and the Oyi card removes the pain of paying out of pocket medical costs once medical aid funds dry up.  

This provides flexibility to prepare for unforeseen medical expenses while it also complements a typical medical aid. Oyi savings can also be used towards co-payments.

Aimed primarily at employers who have some staff who are not covered by medical aid, the card allows for private access to quality healthcare for all employees. The Oyi medical card is simple and easy to manage with very little administration and staff have free access to their balance and usage reports.

There are no limitations on whom the card holder can pay for. This is a household card and any family member or dependents can benefit from the cash funds available and there is no waiting period, the card holder can start to transact as soon as money has been paid into the card account immediately.

The card works at any medical provider in South Africa where MasterCard is accepted.

Oyi is part of the AlphaCode Incubate programme, which identifies, partners and grows early stage financial service ventures for Rand Merchant Investments (RMI).

Oyi operates in a regulated industry and is registered with the National Credit Regulator where the Oyi Medical Card/FlexPay MasterCard is issued in association with Mercantile Bank Limited.