OnStandby Technologies
When seconds count,
we connect.
2am. Geyser burst. Armed intruder. Vehicle breakdown.
One tap — verified professional, funds in escrow, work done right.
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OnStandby Technologies
2am. Geyser burst. Armed intruder. Vehicle breakdown.
One tap — verified professional, funds in escrow, work done right.
Payments
South Africa's informal service economy runs on cash advances paid to unverified strangers. No recourse. No record. No return. OnStandby changes the structure — every rand held in regulated escrow, every vendor verified, every job documented from first message to final payment. You control the money until the work is done.
Browse real ratings, verified credentials, and full pricing upfront. Every vendor is identity-checked before listing. No strangers.
Funds are authorised and held in regulated escrow. The vendor cannot access a cent until the job is complete and you confirm it.
Knowing payment is guaranteed on delivery, the vendor arrives and performs. Every message, photo, and update is logged in-app.
Review the completed work. Raise a dispute if something's wrong — funds freeze immediately. Satisfied? Confirm with one tap.
Payment transfers to the vendor's wallet the moment you confirm — and to their registered bank account on request. Same day.
When you request a job, payment is authorised and held — not released to the vendor until you confirm the work is complete. No vendor receives a cent before you are satisfied.
Callout fees, site survey charges, and agreed deposits that need to move immediately are settled instantly. You are always told the type and amount before you pay — no surprises.
For jobs that need an assessment first, vendors send a formal quote — line items, labour, materials, and timeline. You review, approve, and pay only once you are satisfied with the scope.
Vendors can require a deposit before work begins — to cover materials or secure their availability. The deposit is paid immediately. The balance is held in escrow until the job is confirmed complete.
Raise a dispute before confirming and the escrow balance freezes immediately. Neither party can access the funds until the issue is reviewed and resolved. You are never left without recourse.
Released funds land in the vendor's earnings wallet the moment you confirm. Payout requests transfer directly to their registered bank account — processed daily. No invoice chasing. No delays.
Jobs auto-confirm 24 hours after a vendor marks completion — unless a dispute is raised first. This window gives you time to review the work before payment releases. You can confirm early at any point. All payments are processed through PCI-DSS Level 1 certified, POPIA-regulated, PASA-licensed infrastructure — connected directly to South Africa's banking system. No cash. No card handed to a stranger. Bank-to-bank, with escrow as the safety layer between you and every transaction.
The Platform
A dispatch-first marketplace connecting people in crisis with trusted, verified professionals — routed in real time, paid in escrow.
For People
Request any service from your phone. Every vendor is verified before listing. Payment is held in regulated escrow — the vendor gets nothing until you confirm the work is done. Full dispute protection, always.
For Vendors
Accept jobs on your schedule. Your rating is your currency — merit-only placement means the best vendors rise naturally. No ads, no pay-to-win.
Built On
OnStandby is assembled on world-class cloud and payment infrastructure — chosen for reliability, regulatory compliance, and deep integration with South Africa's financial system.
Cloud Infrastructure
Payment Infrastructure
The frontend, backend, and infrastructure config were co-built with Claude (Anthropic). Cloud operations are managed with Gemini (Google). We build openly with AI — and we think you should know that.
Claude · Anthropic
Gemini · Google
The Network
Every trade. Every emergency. Every professional service. One dispatch engine, routing the right person to the right place — in seconds. Click any domain to explore.
Trust & Security
Every rand on OnStandby passes through internationally certified, South African-regulated financial infrastructure — independently audited, legally structured, and built to the standards your bank holds itself to. We don't build payment rails. We integrate with infrastructure that has already earned it.
South Africa loses billions each year to contractor fraud, ghost suppliers, and advance payments that never come back. OnStandby is built to make that structurally impossible. Escrow funds are held in legally structured, segregated accounts — operated by providers licensed by the Payments Association of South Africa under the same regulatory framework that governs your bank. Nobody touches your money without your explicit authorisation. If something goes wrong, you raise a dispute — funds freeze immediately, and nothing moves until the issue is reviewed. Automated fraud detection monitors every transaction in real time. Detailed records of every job, payment, and communication are maintained for reconciliation, auditing, and your own peace of mind.
OnStandby processes payments through Paystack, which holds PCI-DSS Level 1 certification — the highest international payment security standard. Every transaction, every token, every webhook is independently audited against the strictest financial controls in the world — not just at setup, but on an ongoing basis.
All payment data is encrypted from your device to the bank — and at every point in between. Your card details, account numbers, and transaction records are never exposed in transit. Only you and your bank can access the information used to process your payment.
Every payment must be verified with two-factor authentication before it is honoured. No transaction proceeds without your explicit, bank-confirmed authorisation — no exceptions, no bypasses.
Your personal and financial data is processed in full compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act. South African law protects you here — and our infrastructure aligns to international GDPR standards as a baseline, not an afterthought.
OnStandby's escrow layer is powered by TradeSafe — a registered Systems Operator and Third-Party Payment Provider licensed by the Payments Association of South Africa. TradeSafe operates under the same regulatory oversight that governs your bank, with funds held in segregated trust accounts.
Every transaction on OnStandby is screened by automated fraud detection systems — the same class of monitoring used by financial institutions. Suspicious payment patterns are flagged before disbursement. No fraudulent payout goes undetected, and chargeback exposure is eliminated by design through the escrow model.
Payments on OnStandby are bank-to-bank — connected directly to South Africa's banking system through licensed, regulated infrastructure. No cash. No card handed to a stranger on site. Every rand follows a documented, encrypted, auditable path from your account to escrow to the vendor's bank — and only on your instruction. The certifications, the licences, the regulatory oversight are all in place before your first transaction. The 24-hour auto-confirm window, dispute freezing, fraud monitoring, and payout controls are not just product features — they are legally enforceable protections built into every single job on the platform. No fine print. No loopholes. No surprises.
Pricing
Every vendor sets their own pricing structure — visible to clients before they request. No negotiation at the door. No hidden extras after the fact.
A flat charge for showing up — covering travel and initial assessment before work begins. Settled the moment you arrive on site, before any further commitment is made.
Time-based billing from the moment you arrive on site. You set the rate. The platform tracks job duration and calculates the total automatically.
Know exactly what a job costs upfront. Set a single fixed price per job type — no surprises for the client, no time-tracking required from you.
Bill by sqm, room, vehicle, item, or any unit that fits your trade. Ideal for cleaning, painting, tiling, and any scope-driven service.
For full-day or extended engagements. Set a flat daily rate for project work, on-site standby, event coverage, or multi-day assignments.
A separate rate applied outside business hours or on emergency callouts. You define what "after hours" means for your trade — the platform enforces it.
Charge for the distance you travel from your base. Compensates fairly for fuel and time on longer callouts — you never absorb travel costs silently.
Set a minimum job duration so small callouts are always worth your while. A 10-minute fix still bills at your minimum — say, 1 hour.
Apply a percentage markup on parts and materials used. Covers procurement, sourcing, and handling — itemised clearly for the client. For jobs requiring materials upfront, a deposit can be collected before work begins.
Set a free cancellation window, a late cancel fee, and a no-show fee independently. Your time is protected at every stage — from dispatch to on-site.
For jobs where scope determines price, activate Survey Before Quoting — your profile shows this flag clearly, so clients know before they request that a formal price follows your on-site assessment. Your full rate card — base fees, travel, after-hours differentials, and minimums — is shown to every client before they confirm. Nothing is a surprise after the fact. OnStandby charges a 8% platform commission on confirmed jobs. No monthly subscription. No listing fees. You only pay when you earn.
The Technology
Infrastructure that performs when stakes are highest. No downtime. No excuses. No single point of failure.
01
Vendors are contacted in weighted waves — proximity, rating, acceptance rate, and response latency all factor into priority. If wave one doesn't respond, wave two fires automatically.
02
WebSocket-first delivery. Job requests reach active vendors in under a second. Web Push ensures offline vendors are woken up — no job goes unseen.
03
Funds are held from initiation and released only on your confirmation. Disputes freeze the balance instantly. Deposits, callout fees, and structured quotes are all handled natively — the right payment type for every job.
04
Automated emergency triage at intake — classifying urgency, domain, and required credentials before dispatch begins. The right vendor, not just the nearest one.
Coming SoonGuardian AI
Smartwatch health monitoring with zero-touch dispatch. When vitals signal a crisis, Guardian classifies the emergency and dispatches the right vendor — no button press required.
B2B Enterprise
A dedicated interface for companies managing service needs at scale. Multi-job accounts, VAT invoicing, purchase order references, and multi-tier approval workflows.
Project Tendering
Post a project — build a house, renovate a block, install an entire solar farm. Vendors across multiple domains tender for specific roles. You award. Jobs spin up. One platform, one payment flow, the whole project.
Vendor Collaboration
Lead vendors sub-contract specialists directly through the platform. The electrician brings his certified installer; the builder brings his plumber. One job, multi-vendor payout — without the invoice chaos.
Protected Engagements
High-value jobs demand more structure. Require a signed NDA before a vendor sees job details. Collect a deposit upfront, hold the balance in escrow. Release in stages as milestones are reached.
National Scale
The dispatch engine is built to grow nationally — same merit-only principles, same real-time infrastructure, every city. One platform. The whole country.
RedLine Initiative
A dedicated command-and-control environment for EMS operators — built for life-safety response, not convenience bookings. AI-assisted triage classifies incoming incidents by severity. Wave-based dispatch coordinates multiple units in real time. RedLine runs on OnStandby infrastructure but operates as a separate, hardened environment for paramedics, fire services, and emergency coordinators who cannot afford a miss.