We were incorporated in the state of Nevada on July 8, 2015. On November 4, 2015, we conducted the Share Exchange with Rent Pay, which became our wholly owned subsidiary
Americans borrowed nearly $29 billion from payday lenders in 2017, paying $5 billion in fees, according to estimates by John Hecht, an analyst at the financial services firm Jefferies -
www.jefferies.com
As of December 31, 2020, the industry data for the year, ending December 31, 2019 estimates the unsecured credit and short-term credit market in South Africa, to be around US$ 5.35billion (conversion rate as of December 31, 2020) (78.6-billion-rands in South Africa) for that year
https://www.ncr.org.za/documents/CCMR/CCMR%202020Q4.pdf
Our mission is to provide loan administration software to credit providers, retail stores, provisional service industry (doctors, lawyers, accountants) with a high-quality credit management software systems and customer support that will enable such industries to effectively operate and manage their business and credit risk in compliance with applicable US federal and state laws and the National Credit Act in South Africa.
| | On 1 March 2023 we appointed Randall F. Greene as our director and Chief Operations Officer. |
| | Completed the development of our standalone funeral cover software program The standalone funeral cover software program will be launched in July 2023 and will enable us to sell funeral cover products directly to the public in South Africa, through our existing Juristic Representative agreement in place. Funeral cover is an insurance product that insures a person’s life, in order for his family who are the beneficiaries of the insurance product, to be able to cover the expenses associated with the funeral. |
South African Business Operation:
Our South African subsidiary, Rent Pay (Pty) Ltd, currently provides a web-based client and loan administration software platform, the Automated Credit Provider Administration System, to registered lenders in South Africa, which we market under the name “ACPAS”.
Our customer base consists of customers with physical branch outlets as well as online customers with lending websites. ACPAS was designed to bridge the gap between traditional standalone administration platforms, payment gateways, credit bureaus and other third-party service providers through this fully automated software platform.
We provide a cloud-based loan origination software system that is compliant with all applicable legislation and enables our customers to grant loans, sell products, pay bills or pay monthly subscriptions on terms, all within our software system. Our software platform features integrated third-party service providers are, for example, registered payment gateways, credit bureaus, two-way texting, credit protection insurance and decision-making platforms. We also develop tailor-made web sites for our customers that is fully integrated with our ACPAS system. Our system also includes basic accounting and bookkeeping functionality.
In an effort to reduce the cost of our US operations, in November 2021, we decided to close the sales office in Grapevine Texas and to only keep the registered Dallas office at this point in time. As of February 2022, we no longer pursue US sales and operations because of: (a) the resignation of our previous Chief Executive Officer, Wouter Fouche, in February 2022 who was to direct our planned US operations and the need to appoint new staff; (b) need to raise adequate funding to pursue and complete a successful US rollout; and (c) our current staff resources are restrained and the time difference between the US and South Africa and the location of all our staff resources in South Africa and the lingering effects of Covid presents difficulties. We will focus most of our sales effort in Southern Africa, first to expand in Southern Africa. We are currently also looking at potential expansion opportunities in the US since our appointment of Randall Greene as our Chief Operating Officer/Director.
ACPAS – Automated Credit Provider Administration System. This is our management software system that we lease on a monthly basis to our customers that they use to manage their businesses, clients and processes.
| | Theme Studio - Business Online |
Customized websites that we develop for our customers that are fully integrated with our ACPAS system to provide our customers with a public platform to interact and transact with their clients daily.
We are a reseller of credit bureau products. We provide our customers with a base within the ACPAS software system to conduct consumer credit inquiries to make informed credit decisions about whether or not to grant credit to an applicant. We buy these credit inquiries in bulk from the credit bureau and resell the transactions to our customers at a markup price.
| | Credit Protection and Life Insurance |
We act as an agent for a registered insurance company and provide our customers with functionality within the ACPAS software system that enables our customers to sell credit protection insurance or life insurance products to consumers when securing credit. We receive monthly commission on all insurance sales generated through our system on a referral basis.
| | Debit order transaction fees |
In South Africa, we are a registered Third-Party Payment Provider (TPPP) and charge a fee for debit order transactions that we facilitate between parties. This is a percentage-based fee that we charge for every installment due for repayment, that we successfully collect by debit order from the bank account of consumers for their benefit.
| | Development Service Fee & Staff Services |
We offer custom software development and general administration staff services to customers for development or administration services to be offered on a monthly basis.
US Operational Cost/Restructuring:
In order to reduce the cost of our US operations, we decided to close the sales office in Grapevine Texas and to only keep the registered Dallas office at this point in time. As of February 2022, we decided to no longer pursue US sales and operations, apart from our one US client, that we will keep in Texas, as we will focus on our African expansion in the near future. The US client that we have, is currently supported from our South African support centre..
Planned Business Operations in Africa
| | South Africa
Revenue Segment | |
ACPAS - Monthly License Fee | | | | |
ACPAS Installation and Setup fee (One-time charge) | | | | |
Transaction Fee (Ave CTC /CTM per successful transaction) | | | | |
Ave volume of transactions/per month/per branch | | | | |
| | | | |
(A transaction is defined as: a successful debit order collection through our debit order platform)
We will also provide custom website development services on a per quote basis.
Sales and Marketing Strategy South Africa
We provide a cloud-based loan origination software platform that enables businesses to grant loans, sell products, pay bills and monthly subscription on terms. Our marketing activities to date in South Africa have primarily consisted of contacting potential sales leads and making presentations and attending a yearly conference that we do with Micro Finance South Africa. We also run monthly Google ads and Facebook marketing campaigns, through external marketing companies.
Since August 2017, we have regularly posted videos and digital media files each month to continuously attract viewers and continue to do so.
We plan to also become members of OLA (Online lenders Alliance) and the CFSA (Community Financial Services Association of America) once adequate funding is available to establish contact with lenders within our target market and enable us to market our products and services through their network as well.
Social Media & Applications
We will use social media and apps to connect with leads and our customers on a more personal level. We currently make use of two marketing companies to promote our brand on social media platforms in South Africa and plan to do the same in the US.
Create and maintain interesting blog posts to attract leads.
We will attract potential customers by hosting webinars on interesting industry topics and by engaging with customers and potential customers face to face, by sharing quality information and having discussions on relevant industry matters. We purchased GoToMeeting and use this tool to interact with potential clients doing webinars.
Email Campaigns & Newsletters
We will signup customers and leads interested in our product through value added newsletters and email campaigns.
We will arrange in-person marketing events together with industry leaders and opinion makers that will ensure personal interaction opportunities with potential clients that could result in a high conversion rate and quality leads on. During 2017, 2018, and 2019, 2020, 2021,2022 and 2023, we attended conferences and engaged with industry leaders.
We do not have a seasonal business cycle in South Africa.
We do not use raw materials in our business.
Our target market consists of:
| | Lawyers, doctors, accountants; and |
| | Athletic or other clubs that charge monthly fees |
Reliance Upon One or a Few Customers
During our Fiscal Year 2023, 4 customers accounted for 62.59% of our revenues business in South Africa, as follows:
Customer % Mar 2022 – Feb 2023
We have 16 full-time employees: (a) our CEO/CFO, Jacob C Fölscher; (b) 1 operational director; (c) 1 financial director; (d) 1 scientific programmer; (e) 4 systems engineers; and (f) 2 accounting/bookkeeping person, 2 assistants, 4 Software developers. Our scientific programmer and system engineers and 3 Software developers will continue to provide support and technical assistance and modifications to our current ACPAS system and support development of future products and our current software. Most of our employees are located at our South African office working directly for the South Africa office.
Contingent upon our revenues and adequate financing, we plan to hire 3 additional developers 2 sales representatives, 4 technical support staff members, 2 training consultants and 1 national sales manager.
Our products and services have been offered since June 2008 in all South Africa provinces and will continue to be so offered.
Our primary competitors in South Africa are
Each of the above competitors sell credit related software that is sold to lenders.
| | We are a Cloud based system and there is no need for physical installation; |
| | For the past 10 years we have designed a software system that incorporates regulatory guidelines, affordability guidelines on an ongoing basis in South Africa, which we can adapt to a US software credit system; |
| | South Africa has a non-paying culture as evidenced by market data. |
Competitive Disadvantages
| | Our competitors in South Africa, including those mentioned above, have greater operational, financial and personnel resources than we do; |
| | Apart from the POC, we don’t have any operations in the US; |
| | We will have substantial development of our business and software program to adopt to the various states; and |
| | We have not tested our marketing or our product in the US. |
Our customers’ products and services are subject to extensive US local, state and federal regulation and South African regulations. The regulation of the loan products and services industry is intended primarily for the protection of consumers and is constantly in flux as new regulations are introduced and existing regulations are repealed, amended, and modified.
South Africa Credit Regulations (The National Credit Act)
The National Credit Act (“NCA”) regulates the South Africa credit industry and was designed to protect consumer in the credit market and make credit and banking services more accessible. The Purpose of the NCA Act is to: promote a fair and non-discriminatory marketplace for access to consumer credit; regulate consumer credit and improve standards of Consumer information; prohibit certain unfair credit and credit marketing practices; promote responsible credit granting and use; prohibit reckless credit granting; provide for debt re-organization in case of over-indebtedness; to regulate credit information; and establish recourse for unfair credit practices. The NCA does this by simplifying and standardizing credit agreements and information disclosure; providing for the use of simple language that is easy to understand for comparing credit agreements from different credit providers; ensures all credit products are handled in the same way by credit providers; assisting over-indebted Consumers to restructure their debt with the help of a Debt Counselor (DC) and encourage responsible lending; regulates credit bureaus in terms of their Consumer information and records; establishing the National Credit Regulator (NCR) to regulate the entire credit market; and establishing the National Consumer Tribunal (CT) to adjudicate on Consumer complaints and disputes with credit providers, contraventions of The Act and decisions of the Regulator.
The NCA affects anyone dealing with the credit industry such as credit grantors, credit grantees and intermediaries. The NCA defines a “credit agreement” broadly as any installment purchase agreement of goods or services, as well as the extension of credit in the form of money i.e. home loans, personal loans, credit cards, store cards and short-term loans. Therefore, a credit agreement applies to any party involved in the credit agreement which is classified into three categories namely incidental credit agreements; intermediate agreements; and large credit agreements.
Credit Providers include banks, micro lenders, retailers such as furniture and clothing stores, all businesses, companies, close corporations, partnerships and individuals who do business on credit, provide loans or charge interest on overdue accounts. Consumers Include natural person, companies, close corporations, trusts (with more than three individual trustees), partnerships and an association of persons whose asset value or annual turnover, together with the combined asset value or annual turnover of all related juristic persons, at the time the agreement is made, equals or exceeds the threshold value of 1 million rands.
The NCA lists a number of consumer rights, which are protected by the Act. A party who breaches Consumer rights protected by the NCA commits an offence in terms of credit law, which enables Consumer recourse through the established dispute channels. The following are Consumer rights protected in the NCA:
| | To be protected against discrimination in the granting of credit |
| | To be informed why credit has not been granted, should you ask |
| | To receive a free copy of your credit agreement |
| | To receive a credit agreement in plain and simple language |
| | To have your personal and financial information treated confidential |
| | To understand all fees, costs, interest rates, the total installment and any other details |
| | To say no to increases on your credit limit |
| | To decide whether or not you want to be informed about products or services via telephone, SMS, mail or e-mail campaigns |
| | To apply for debt counseling should you be overwhelmed by debt |
The key points of the NCA are:
The NCA restricts and prohibits certain practices of loan canvassing such as door to door selling, uninvited canvassing at workplaces or homes. The NCA also increased control over marketing practices and advertisements such as automatic credit limit increases and negative option marketing i.e. if you do not decline, we will assume you agree. In addition, the National Credit Act provides for clear and understandable marketing communication. Consumers must receive a detailed written quote, which is valid for 5 business days, to enable quote comparisons from different credit providers.
2. Capped Interest Rates and Other Fees and Charges
The NCA effectively caps the interest rates, fees and other charges, which credit providers, can charge, depending on the type of credit and when the credit was granted. The maximum interest rate, in most cases, is based on a formula, which is dependent on the SA Reserve Bank Repurchase (Repo) rate at the time that the credit was granted. Essentially, there are seven rate categories namely mortgage agreements; credit cards/facilities; unsecured credit transactions; short-term credit transactions; developmental credit agreements; other credit agreements and incidental credit agreements. The NCA places a cap on the maximum amount that a credit provider can charge for other fees such as initiation fees, monthly service, and default and collection costs. While a loan protection policy is permitted, the charges must “be reasonable” and the Consumer may use/cede an existing insurance cover.
The NCA requires credit providers to supply simple contracts that are easy to understand, in official languages and the Consumer must receive a free copy. Consumers are also entitled to a reason, on request, when the credit provider denies credit. The NCA requires credit providers to do due diligence to ensure the Consumer can afford the loan and all loans must be recorded on a register to prevent Consumers becoming over-indebted.
Credit providers are in contravention of the NCA and may be judged guilty of reckless lending if the Consumers ability to afford loan repayments is not assessed before granting credit. Credit providers may be subject to severe penalties and may even forfeit their right to recover the debt if they are judged guilty of reckless lending. However, Consumers who failed to fill in the loan application fully and honestly are not protected by the NCA.
5. Debt Counselor & Counseling
The NCA gives Consumers the right to apply for financial management and debt counseling assistance if he or she is unable to pay their debts. The Debt Counselor (DC) is registered by the NCR after successful course and exam completion. Debt counselors will help over-indebted Consumers restructure/rearrange their debt repayments, this process can be voluntary or made an order of the court.
All DCs must be registered with the National Credit Regulator and fees are prescribed in terms of the NCA. Consumers must understand and accept the process, charges and payments before undergoing debt counseling. Once the Consumer has signed for debt counseling, the credit bureau is notified, and the Consumer will be unable to obtain further credit for the duration of debt counseling until the process is finalized/withdrawn.
The NCA requires all credit bureau to be registered with and submit reports to the National Credit Regulator. Credit bureau are required to ensure data is accurate at all times and that inaccurate information is immediately removed without cost to the Consumer after the Consumer has lodged a complaint. The NCA regulations stipulate how Credit bureau information is obtained, used, and for how long it should remain on a Consumer’s profile.
In addition, Consumers are eligible for one free credit report from each credit bureau each year to effectively manage their credit profiles.
7. The National Credit Regulator and the Consumer Tribunal
The NCA established the NCR to regulate the credit industry and ensure that credit providers comply with the NCA. In addition, the NCR is responsible for investigating and evaluating Consumer complaints about alleged contraventions of the NCA by credit providers. All credit providers, credit bureau and debt counselors must register and report to the NCR.
In addition to the NCR, the NCA established the Consumer Tribunal with equal status to a court of law to hear and adjudicate on: applications made in terms of the NCA by consumers; credit providers and credit bureau; debt counselors and the NCR including applications for interim relief and a review of the NCR’s decisions; matters referred to by the NCR or complaints related to allegations of prohibited
Since our inception, we have had no research and development expenses.
Patents and Intellectual Property/Trademarks/Licenses/Franchises
We do not currently own any patents and have no intention of applying for patents. We rely upon our trade secrets for our technology. We currently have no trademarks. We are not a party to any license, royalty or franchise agreements.
Verbal Agreement with Wouter Fouche
We had a verbal agreement with our previous Chief Executive Officer, Wouter Fouche, to pay him a monthly salary of $9,500 for our fiscal year 2022 based upon available funds.
However, Wouter Fouche resigned from all positions on February 3, 2022, including from all positions at any subsidiaries or affiliates, pursuant to a February 3, 2022, Share Purchase and Separation Agreement (the “Agreement”). In the Agreement, Wouter Fouche sold 7,125,000 of his 9,125,000 shares and three million seven hundred thousand (3,700,000) of MiWay Finance shares to us that were owned by Wouter Fouche
for $240,000, which we have agreed to pay with a $150,000 cash payment within 10 days of the Effective Date and $10,000 per month for 9 consecutive months commencing April 1, 2022;
Wouter Fouche retained an amount of 2,00,000 UPAY, Inc. shares pursuant to the Agreement. The 2,00,0000 of our shares are locked up for a period of eighteen (18) months from the closing date of the agreement and thereafter no more than five thousand (5,000) of the Retained Shares may be sold per month. The Agreement also provides for non-circumvention, non-derogation, non-solicitation provisions and Mr. Fouche will never solicit any of our employees, customers or vendors for any other business, work or project of any kind and shall take no action to interfere with, disrupt or harm our business in any manner. Further, Wouter Fouche will keep confidential, any and all information in his knowledge or possession about us or our business, finances or operations, our employees, officers, directors or agents. Wouter Fouche’s resignation was not in connection with any disagreement
with our management regarding us, our operations, policies or practices.
Verbal Agreement with Jacob C Fölscher
We had verbal agreement with our Chief Financial Officer, Jacob C. Fölscher, to pay him a monthly salary of $9,500 for our fiscal year 2021 based upon available funds. There will also be a 13
th
check as an annual bonus of $9,500 per year. Additionally, we verbally agreed to pay Jacob C. Fölscher a $10,000 relocation expense for relocating to the US, if applicable. The monthly salary and $10,000 relocation expense are the sole terms of this verbal agreement. In addition, following the resignation of our former CEO Mr. Fouche, Mr Fölscher has also taken up the role of CEO and Mr. Fölscher currently also serves as our CEO.
Share Exchange Agreement with Rent Pay (Pty) Ltd
On November 4, 2015, we completed a Share Exchange Agreement with Rent Pay (Pty), Ltd (“Rent Pay”), a South African company, and Rent Pay’s shareholders, which are South Africa Trusts controlled by our officers. In the Share Exchange, we exchanged 200,000 shares of our common stock for all of Rent Pay’s outstanding shares (1,000 shares), 500 of which were in the name of the Loantech Trust, a trust controlled by our officer, Wouter Fouche, and 500 shares in the name of Fölscher Family Trust, a trust controlled by our other officer, Jacob Fölscher. As a result of the share exchange, Rent Pay become our wholly owned subsidiary of UPAY
Consulting Agreement with Ferdinand Labuschagne
We have a June 3, 2016 consulting agreement with Ferdinand Labuschagne to perform business advisory services in return for 300,000 restricted common stock shares that were issued and two million cashless warrants exercisable at $3.50 with an exercise period of 2 years following the effectiveness notice from the SEC, at which time the warrants will be issued. The exercise period has since expired on December 6, 2020. The 300,000 shares are subject to a Dribble Out Agreement providing that Ferdinand Labuschagne agrees not to sell during each quarter after the lock up period more than 10% of its shares then held and not more than 1,500 shares per day. The shares and the warrants are locked up for a period of 2 years following the date when the company’s shares are publicly traded. As disclosed, Ferdinand Labuschagne is Wouter A. Fouche’s brother-in-law and the consulting agreement is a related party transaction.
Software Services Agreement with Fourier Systems (Pty) Ltd
We have a January 18, 2016 Software Services Agreement with Fourier Systems (Pty) Ltd (“Fourier”), a software services company located and registered in South Africa. In the agreement, Fourier agreed to provide services to develop the software for a US Loan Administration System and a Payment Gateway System in return for 1,800,000 restricted common stock shares, 1,000,000 shares of which will be recorded in book entry at our transfer agent within 10 days of the development completion of all functionality of the Loan Administration System and 800,000 shares of which will be recorded in book entry at our transfer agent within 10 days of the development completion of the our Payment Gateway. The relationship between us the company and Fourier has since come to an end and no development on the project was performed by Fourier, rendering the agreement cancelled.
Website/Software Services Agreement with Twin Harbor Web Solutions, Inc.
We have a January 1, 2016 Website/Software Services Agreement with Twin Harbor Web Solutions, Inc. (“Twin Harbor) providing that Twin Harbor will provide software and website development services involving website design and basic website setup for our ACPAS system. The agreement provides that we will pay Twin Harbor: (a) $35 per month to be billed annually for website hosting; (b) $750 for website setup; (c) an initial $2,000 payment to build the master website and the plug in with all of our web services; and (d) upon completion of the master website with all plugins, we will issue 30,000 restricted common stock shares.
Asset Purchase Agreement with Twin Harbor Web Solutions, Inc
We have an April 16, 2018 Asset Purchase Agreement with Twin Harbor Web Solutions, Inc, where we acquired the software known as “Theme Studio” from Twin Harbor Web Solutions in exchange for 2,000,000 restricted common stock shares. The software acquired includes a customizable client loan or product website with templates that include a client and document management platform as well as an electronic document signature solution. This means that we now own all right, title and deed to the “Theme Studio “software and can further develop the platform.
Software Acquisition Agreement with Finbond Mutual Bank
We have a January 9, 2019 Software Acquisition Agreement with Finbond Mutual Bank, where Finbond will acquire a copy of the current UPAY software, for $240,279. Our subsidiary, Rent Pay (Pty) Ltd, will then further develop and customize the software at an agreed development rate per hour. Upon successful completion of the further development, Finbond will use the software in their South African operations. Finbond paid a deposit to initiate the project of $141, 341.
Agreements with James Byrd
We have a February 5, 2021 share purchase and services agreement with James S Byrd, PA (Consultant), where the company appointed the Consultant, for a period of 18 months from the date of the agreement, to provide legal, business, strategic and other consulting services to Company to assist the Company, by providing the names of possible financing capital sources for the Company’s growth and expansion plans, assist and advise on any potential up-listing, merger or acquisition that the company may pursue in future and assist in the preparation of documents pertaining thereto. The consultant will also assist the Company in developing corporate governance practices and strategies and assist with the preparation of documents to affect corporate governance measures, including those that will be consistent with an up-listing and review, edit, and comment on Regulation A offering document and amendments prepared by the Company’s securities counsel and provide advice on US distribution agreements for the Company’s products and refer possible US distributors for its products in the US.
In consideration and exchange for the Consultant’s services and a cash investment of $30,000 by the Consultant in UPAY, the Company agreed to issue One million (1,000,000) shares of common stock in the Company to the Consultant, effective upon execution of the agreement.
We also had an October 11, 2021 Director Agreement with James S Byrd, for a period of 12 months, through October 11, 2022, to serve as director on the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Byrd is to perform such duties and responsibilities as are customarily related to such position in accordance with Company’s bylaws, Code of Ethics, and applicable law, including, but not limited to, assisting the Company in the following: (a) obtaining DTC eligibility for the Company’s common stock; (b) assisting in the Company’s Regulation A filing; (c) advise the Company on its public company and business needs. Jim Byrd was paid $5000 per month for his services.
On November 2, 2022, we decided not to renew the James Byrd Director Agreement for an additional 12 months of Board Service, which decision was not in connection with any disagreement with our management regarding us, our operations, policies or practices.
We have a
September 1, 2022
Director Agreement with Pieter A Swanepoel, for a period of 12 months, through
August 31, 2023
, to serve as our director . Mr. Swanepoel is to perform such duties and responsibilities as are customarily related to such position in accordance with Company’s bylaws, Code of Ethics, and applicable law, including, but not limited to, assisting the Company in the following:
(a) assisting the Company with its cash flow planning and forecasts for budget and financial planning purposes; (b) assisting in the Company with preparing financial information ; (c) advise the Company on group structuring and business and financial needs (collectively, the “Services”).
Mr. Swanepoel will be paid
100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand) restricted common shares of the Company, over a 12-month period,
for his services.
We have a
March 1, 2023
Director Agreement with Randall F Greene, for a period of 12 months, through
February 29, 2024
, to serve as our director. We also have a March 1, 2023 Officer Agreement with Randall F Greene to serve as our Chief Operations Officer (“COO”). Pursuant to these agreement, Randall Greene is to perform such duties and responsibilities as are customarily related to those positions, including, but not limited to, assisting us in the following: a) identifying and assessing potential acquisitions ; (b) assisting in as Regulation A filing if pursued; (c) advise and assist us on public company and business strategy; (d) represent us as our as COO, including to establish its business presence in the US, (e) assist us in opening bank accounts (f) establish business relationships with service providers and establish other business relationships; . Randall Greene will be paid 100,000 shares for his Director Agreement for the 12 month period and 700,000 shares in return for his COO services.