PrizePay strengthens payout accuracy and efficiency with Azupay

For PrizePay, fast payouts are not just a feature; they are central to the brand promise. Winners expect immediate access to their funds, and any friction in that experience can impact customer satisfaction, customer brand perception and the effectiveness of the promotion itself. 

However, behind the scenes, payout flows introduce complexity. Customer-entered account details are not always consistent with bank records, with common issues including the use of initials instead of full names, incomplete information, or minor variations in formatting. 

Without validation at the point of entry, these inconsistencies can lead to increased operational overhead and risks: 

• Uncertainty over whether funds are being sent to the correct account 

• Manual intervention to investigate and resolve mismatches 

• Increased support volumes and operational overhead 

• Risk of failed or misdirected payments 

As PrizePay continued to scale beyond its core promotions use case, these challenges became more pronounced. The business needed a way to introduce stronger validation and controls, without compromising the simplicity and speed of its payout experience. 

PrizePay integrated Azupay’s implementation of Confirmation of Payee capability directly into its user experience, embedding account validation into the payout process via API. 

When a winner enters their bank details, an account check is performed in real time to assess whether the details align with those held by the bank. This provides an additional layer of verification before funds are released, enabling potential issues to be identified earlier in the journey. 

The implementation was straightforward, with stable transaction flows between PrizePay, Azupay and banking partners from the outset. 

Immediately at the 30-day mark, PrizePay reported that the solution was performing better than expected. There were no major issues following go-live, and the system was operating reliably within production environments. 

While some level of name-matching friction remains, largely due to inconsistencies in how end users enter their details, or differences in how banks store account names, this has proven manageable. Failure rates remain low, and customer queries have been minimal. 

“In payout flows, speed gets the attention, but accuracy is what protects the business and its customers. What we’ve done with PrizePay is put a validation layer at the point of payment, so they can scale faster without scaling risk or operational overhead.” – Tom Rundle, Chief Product Officer, Azupay 

A key outcome for PrizePay has been the improvement in operational efficiency. 

By introducing validation earlier in the payout process, the business has been able to reduce the need for manual checks and downstream issue resolution. Instead of identifying problems after a payment attempt, potential mismatches can be flagged upfront, reducing rework and support effort. 

This has several practical benefits: 

• Fewer payout exceptions linked to incorrect account details 

• Reduced reliance on manual review and investigation 

• Lower support volumes tied to payout issues 

• Greater operational leverage as transaction volumes grow 

PrizePay has eliminated manual payout review, saving approximately 3 hours per week across operations and support teams. 

Beyond efficiency, the introduction of Confirmation of Payee has strengthened PrizePay’s control over its payout process. 

For a business responsible for distributing funds on behalf of brands, ensuring payments are accurate and compliant is critical. The ability to validate account details before releasing funds provides an additional safeguard, helping reduce the risk of misdirected payments. 

While not every mismatch can be eliminated (particularly where underlying bank data is incomplete), the overall validation capability represents a clear improvement on previous processes. 

PrizePay has seen a 76% reduction in payout exceptions related to incorrect account details. 

This added layer of confidence is particularly important as PrizePay expands into new use cases and markets, where higher transaction volumes require more scalable and reliable processes. 

Importantly, these improvements have not come at the expense of the customer experience. 

PrizePay has maintained a simple and intuitive payout journey, with account validation occurring seamlessly in the background. Customers are increasingly familiar with these types of checks, reducing friction and supporting adoption over time. 

Despite the introduction of additional validation: 

• Failure rates remain low 

• Customer queries are minimal 

• Most users complete the payout process without issue 

96% of winners successfully complete the payout process without requiring support intervention. 

The result is a more trusted payout experience, one that balances speed with accuracy. 

“Azupay’s Confirmation of Payee capability has helped us improve confidence in our payout process while keeping the experience simple for our customers. The solution has performed better than expected, and the operational efficiencies have been a real benefit as we scale.” – David Joll, Director, PrizePay 

For PrizePay, the benefits extend beyond immediate operational gains. 

As the business continues to grow, including expanding beyond its core promotions segment, having a scalable payout infrastructure is essential. The introduction of account validation provides a stronger foundation for this growth, enabling higher volumes to be processed without a corresponding increase in operational cost or risk mitigation for the customer.

Combined with ongoing product enhancements, such as potential improvements to name-matching logic; the solution positions PrizePay to continue evolving its payout experience while maintaining operational efficiency, reducing risk, and helping brands deliver better incentive experiences for their customers.