Then - often in the dead of night - driving to an all-night shop miles away just to get your hands on those much needed units.
With Prepaid24, those cumbersome night drives are something of the past. All prepaid electricity and mobile users with internet banking facilities can now purchase electricity and airtime online from the cosy comfort of home, or for that matter, anywhere on the planet at no additional cost!
We spoke to Ben Lindeque, business architect of Prepaid24 to find out more about this company that has a refreshing take on their contribution towards improving quality of life...
Why does Prepaid24 exist?
The main purpose and driving force behind Prepaid24's existence is to make the lives of people, who use prepaid electricity and airtime, a little easier.
How does Prepaid24 make clients' lives easier?
This is achieved by firstly providing clients with personal, fast and effective online support 7 days a week. (Business days between 8am and 10pm and on weekends and public holidays between 8am and 6pm.) Clients appreciate that, when they encounter any hiccup, there is someone they can talk to immediately.
Secondly, our system is also very simple and easy to use. Clients love the fact that they do not have to use their credit card to be able to buy online. We have received numerous compliments from clients about the fact that our registration process is not long and tedious. The other very obvious benefit is the fact that clients transact from within their own bank's internet site, from where they would pay their other beneficiaries. This is the reason why Prepaid24 does not require any sensitive personal information from any of our clients.
Where did Prepaid24 sign up their first electricity clients?
We launched our solution in the Southern Cape, just over 22 months ago, and signed up our very first electricity clients here in George. Since then, we have signed up over 3 000 households and businesses in George. We are excited to see how this figure is constantly growing on a monthly basis.
Are there any additional costs charged to the client who uses Prepaid24?
Not at all... clients receive the same amount of kilowatts from Prepaid24 as they would receive from the municipality themselves or from any supermarket or service station. The only difference is that you can now make the payment from your laptop, PC, iPad or mobile phone. You can literally be lying in bed at 11pm at night and recharge your electricity. Once the payment is made, Prepaid24 sends your voucher, with your token number, to your e-mail as well as via an SMS. You will however have to get out of bed to punch the number into your meter.
So okay, I missed the boat and have been driving to the shops to buy my electricity the last two years, but what do I have to do to also lie in my bed and buy my electricity?
It's very easy! We have 4 quick steps:
1. Go to our website: www.prepaid24.co.za and register. (As mentioned we do not require any sensitive personal detail.)
2. Go into your online bank account and create Prepaid24 as a permanent beneficiary. (We deal with all the major banks and their details are on our site.)
3. Make the payment to Prepaid24, using a reference that includes E and your cellphone number as provided at registration (e.g. E0823355666).
4. Punch the token number, received via SMS and e-mail, into your meter.
Voilà…within less than 15 minutes, a first-time user has electricity.
Thereafter, whenever you want to purchase from us, you basically just have to follow steps 3 and 4 …as I said, really easy.
We believe that the huge contribution we are making to people's quality of life with our uncomplicated and safe solution, combined with our personalised and friendly support, is the refreshing difference that Prepaid24 brings to consumers.
'Consistently exceeding client expectations' - that is our heart.

Some of the friendly Prepaid24 support staff are in front from left, Sune Eloff and Johan Lindeque and at the back from left are Quintin Edwards, Elodi Harmse, Louise Pienaar and Christiaan le Roux.