OTPs or One-Time Passwords as the name implies are a single-use verification mechanism for carrying out various activities. Unlike your regular passwords which hardly expire and which you usually have to generate yourself, OTPs expire and are generated for you.
Remember that time you had to pay for something with your debit card at your favorite online store and you got an SMS from your bank with a code that expired after 60 seconds? Or that time Google needed to confirm you were signing into your Gmail from a different device and asked you to enter a code to continue? Yeah, that's an OTP.
It's an extra level of protection dears, one we are all very thankful for.
Now there are various reasons why you'd get an OTP on Cowrywise:
When attempting to create your Cowrywise account
When attempting to add your debit card
When attempting to reset your Cowrywise PIN or password
When you're trying to reset your pin or password on Cowrywise, we send an OTP to your email to complete the process.
However, when adding your debit card on Cowrywise to make payments, your bank sends an OTP to the phone number linked to your debit card. This is to authorize the payment and protect your card in case it gets into the wrong hands. Cowrywise does not send these OTPs.
To put it simply, it is letting your bank know that you're giving us permission to save for you via your debit card.
If for any reason you aren't getting an OTP to add your card, please contact the bank or go to the nearest bank branch to get assistance.
Once resolved, you should be able to add your debit card so you can continue saving and investing 🥳