Ozow appoints Catherine Korsten as Chief Growth Officer

As CGO, she will oversee the company’s expansion strategies, focusing on deepening Ozow’s footprint within the South African market and enhancing merchant-centric value propositions.

Ozow, a South African financial technology company that provides instant, bank-to-bank payment solutions for online and in-store transactions, has announced the appointment of Catherine Korsten as Chief Growth Officer, effective January 2026.

In her new role, Korsten will be responsible for leading the company’s growth and market development strategy, with a focus on expanding Ozow’s presence in South Africa and strengthening its services for merchants that use its payment platform to accept direct electronic payments from customers.

Korsten brings close to two decades of experience across financial services, payments, and commercial leadership. She began her career in stockbroking and hedge fund management before moving into the payments sector at Flash, a subsidiary of the Pepkor Group, where she worked for more than a decade in roles related to large-scale transaction processing and retail payment infrastructure.

She later served as Chief Commercial Officer at EFT Corporation, where her responsibilities included overseeing technology and commercial operations across several African markets, including Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Commenting on her appointment, Korsten said her focus will be on understanding the needs of small and medium-sized businesses and how payment systems can better support their day-to-day operations and access to digital financial services.

At Ozow, her mandate includes working with product, commercial, and partner teams to align the company’s platform development with merchant and consumer usage patterns, as well as contributing to the company’s longer-term approach to market expansion and service delivery.

Ozow stated that the appointment forms part of its broader effort to scale its payment services and deepen relationships with merchants operating across sectors that rely on real-time electronic payments.

Rachel Cowan, interim Chief Executive Officer of Ozow, said Korsten’s background in payments and commercial operations will support the company’s focus on developing its platform and expanding its role within the South African digital payments ecosystem.