Africa Fintech Spotlight
South Africa’s Stitch expands into in-person payments with ExiPay acquisition
The deal sees Stitch able to offer merchants a unified commerce platform for online and in-person payments. The ExiPay technology is device agnostic and works with any acquiring bank.
Junaid Dadan, president, Stitch, says: “ExiPay has built a strong solution that, combined with our existing online payments platform, will allow us to serve our clients from a much more holistic perspective, supporting them across every payments touchpoint they have with their customers.”
Amsterdam-based ExiPay serves several clients in South Africa, including omni-channel retail brand Bash.
Cross-border payments: Building products and services with excellent customer experience
This article was contributed by Nimide Fala, Vice President of Client Experience at Zest, and Eytan Messika, Co-founder at Nilos as part of the Emerging Trends in Cross-Border Payments: A Growth Guide for Stakeholders report authored by Aroghene Favour Ndulu and Paschal Okeke.
For African businesses and consumers, cross-border payment solutions must nail four critical things: speed, affordability, accessibility, and reliability.
Small businesses need cash flow, so they want instant payments. Imagine an SME importing fabrics from China. If payments are delayed, goods get stuck, and cash flow suffers. Freelancers face the same issue when waiting on international payments.
InvestCorp collaborates with Chipper cash to enhance financial inclusion
Accra, Jan. 27, GNA- Africa’s fintech and investment sectors are to benefit from the partnership between InvestCorp and Chipper Cash.
The partnership will create a more accessible and robust financial system for the African continent.
By combining their strengths, the two companies are well-positioned to make a lasting impact on the lives of millions, while setting a benchmark for future collaborations in the region.
A statement issued jointly and signed by Madam Christabel Okantey, Vice President, Strategy and Investor Relations for InvestCorp said the partnership also held the promise of providing solutions for financial security and independence, wealth management.
Read more: https://shorturl.at/rJe7c
Visa & FinTech DealMe launch Cross-Border Card Installment Payments
Visa, a global digital payment solution, and DealMe, a FinTech company, have joined forces to address the increasing demand for cross-border shopping and flexible payment options.
This collaboration will introduce cross-border card instalment payment services, offering greater payment flexibility to Vietnamese and other international consumers.
Cardholders with locally issued Visa credit cards in Vietnam will soon have access to real-time instalment offers at top merchants in South Korea, enhancing repayment convenience while travelling. This initiative will benefit Vietnamese shoppers.
Visa’s data indicates that 75% of surveyed Vietnamese consumers plan to travel for leisure next year, with South Korea being the top destination (18% planning to travel there)1. Vietnamese travellers with Visa credit cards issued in Vietnam will be able to shop at duty-free shops, department stores, and medical institutions in South Korea.
Equity funding constitutes 58% of $1.03 bn invested in African fintech startups in 2024
Amid a slowing down of equity funding into financial technology companies globally, equity funding into African fintech startups declined by 25% in 2024, hitting $600 million. This further buttresses the increasing popularity of debt financing as investors look to make safer bets on startups in Africa.
This was disclosed in the State of Global Fintech Report (2024) released by global startup analytics company, CB Insights. According to it, the $600 million equity funding attracted by fintech startups across the continent falls short of the $800 million in 2023.
Africa’s financial technology space continued to be the most vibrant in the ecosystem last year, accounting for $1.026 billion in funding. This number represents 47% of the $2.2 billion attracted by African startups, according to data from African startup venture funding analytics company, Africa the Big Deal.
Read more: https://technext24.com/2025/01/27/equity-funding-58-african-fintechs-2024/#google_vignette
Visa and Mastercard face multi-billion pound lawsuit over interchange fees
Retailers, charities, universities, travel and hospitality companies, football clubs and others have already joined the claims.
The Class Representatives claim damages from Mastercard and Visa on behalf of card-accepting merchants including charities. They allege that businesses overpay interchange fees when customers pay them by commercial card – causing an estimated $4 billion in collective losses.
In August 2024, the Competition Appeal Tribunal allowed the class action to progress. Businesses with an annual pre-Covid turnover of under £100 million will be automatically included in the claim unless they choose to opt out. Firms with a higher turnover are invited to opt in before the application window closes on 10 February.
Australia tells BNPL providers to apply for credit licences
Australia has seen take up of BNPL products from firms such as Afterpay, Klarna and Zip soar in recent years, with around 40% of people using them in the first half of last year, according to a Finder survey.
However, with most of these products not covered by the National Consumer Credit Act, last summer the government moved to amend the act so that providers are required to hold a credit licence and comply with existing laws about checks.
The legislation also established a new category of ‘low‑cost credit’ under the Act “to reflect the lower risk and cost of BNPL compared with other regulated forms of credit”.