Customer Success Stories

FinTech | Elegant Cookware

Siyanda Zindlani | Elegant Cookware

“Since we’ve started with Nupay, we’ve never missed one debit order. The most important thing for a business apart from its employees is cashflow. I would advise businesses to go with Nupay from Altron FinTech because of the value it has added to my business.”

About Elegant Cookware

For most people living in rural South Africa, having access to quality kitchenware is a luxury beyond their grasp. Not only is it difficult and time-consuming to travel to nearby towns or cities to shop for it, but affordable cookware is often not designed for local challenges either: cookware must withstand being used on an oven and an open fire and kitchenware must be robust and easily transported.

Siyanda Zindlani recognised these challenges and set out to supply the cookware people needed, but with something extra, too: it would be cookware that looked as exceptional as it performed. And so, the company, Elegant Cookware, was born, and Siyanda personally engaged with manufacturers to create new cookware that matched his specifications. From increasing the metal thickness of pots and pans to increasing the number of cookers on portable gas stoves, Siyanda created products that enabled him to share a love of cooking with South Africa.

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"Since we’ve started with NuPay, we’ve never missed one debit order."

The business challenge

Siyanda identified that a key target market was the nurses and doctors who worked in hospitals, and teachers in the many schools— individuals who often had to travel long distances to and from work.

These would be handled through sales appointments at the various institutions. His biggest challenge was reaching the target market outside of the key target market, he’d already identified: individuals living in remote rural areas. He needed a solutions provider that could initiate compliant debit orders anywhere in the country.

"The most important thing for a business apart from its employees is cashflow."

Siyanda Zindlani | Business owner – Elegant Cookware

The solution

Siyanda approached Altron FinTech with his business challenges and was quickly set up with a NuPay account, and most importantly, Subash Maharaj, an account manager to guide him and help him navigate debit orders. When Siyanda arranges visits to schools or hospitals, he only needs his laptop with internet connectivity. He can then log in to the NuPay portal and immediately add new customers by setting up a debit order.

All NuPay products support DebiCheck, meaning that all customers must confirm the details of their debit order with their bank before processing. This ensures peace of mind, compliance and informed decision-making. For the customers who can’t come to him, he sends a team with NuPay Point of Sale (POS) devices to them. Each POS device is dual-SIM, supporting multiple telecoms providers, to ensure coverage and functionality anywhere in the country.

The impact of NuPay

Since starting in August 2024, Elegant Cookware has grown from 2 customers to 248 as of May 2025: an incredible 6 100% growth in under a year. And he has not yet experienced a single fault with a debit order loaded through NuPay. From a business perspective, NuPay;

Enables Siyanda to load new customers in under 5 minutes
Provides 24/7 audit-ready financials and compliance records
Fast transaction switching from any originating bank, with no downtime
Granular details about all debit orders
Secure, cash-free transactions

Siyanda now knows precisely what is happening in his business and with his cash flow at any time of the day, and if there’s something he needs, his account manager is always there to support him.

“If he's got a question, I'll answer the question for him, and that's what he needs. He can't wait 20 minutes for somebody to get back to him.

I've watched him grow from strength to strength; I know his whole family now. I'm right there championing him – it’s awesome!”

Subash Maharaj - FinTech Account Manager