🇿🇦South Africa
Payment trends and fintech news from South Africa
African Fintechs Deploy Alternative Data to Extend Credit to Underserved
African fintech startups are using alternative data from mobile money and digital transactions to offer credit to an estimated 300 million people without formal credit histories. While the model shows promise in expanding financial access, its scaling faces challenges, including regulatory hurdles and low merchant adoption for services like BNPL in West Africa.
Yoco launches AI-powered platform for South African small businesses
South African fintech Yoco has launched an upgraded business platform featuring its first AI agent, designed to assist small merchants with marketing and operations. The move signals the company's expansion from payments into integrated business software.
ACI Worldwide Partners with Kwik Payments to Expand Digital Commerce in Africa
ACI Worldwide has partnered with South African PSP Kwik Payments to enhance digital commerce infrastructure across Africa. The collaboration aims to accelerate merchant onboarding and consolidate multiple payment methods onto a single platform, amid a complex regulatory environment for digital wallets in the region.
Luno Warns South Africa's Stablecoin Rules Could Hinder Cross-Border Payments
Cryptocurrency exchange Luno has cautioned that South Africa's draft stablecoin regulations, which would require stablecoins to be rand-backed, could isolate the country's financial system and impede cross-border payments. The warning comes as other African fintech initiatives, like the expansion of Kwik Payments with ACI Worldwide, focus on facilitating multi-currency transactions across borders.
SARB Prioritizes Payshap Over Digital Rand, Citing Real-Time Payments Focus
The South African Reserve Bank has stated that its real-time payments platform, Payshap, is a higher priority than developing a digital rand. This stance emerges alongside warnings from industry executives that restrictive stablecoin rules could cost South Africa economic opportunities.
Yuno and Onafriq Combine Networks to Create New Pan-African Payment On-Ramp
Yuno and Onafriq have partnered to merge their payment orchestration and network capabilities, creating a unified gateway for digital payments across Africa. The move aligns with broader industry trends, including the rise of stablecoin settlements, aimed at simplifying cross-border commerce and reducing reliance on legacy banking infrastructure.
South Africa's BNPL Sector Seeks Formal Regulatory Framework
The buy now, pay later industry in South Africa is lobbying for a formal regulatory framework as the central bank indicates heightened scrutiny of the sector. The regulatory debate coincides with significant investment in local payments infrastructure, such as Visa's new AI-focused data centre in Johannesburg, which could support future BNPL services.
MTN Group Fintech partners with Ant International to enhance digital payments infrastructure
MTN Group Fintech has formed a strategic technology partnership with Ant International to bolster its mobile money platform. The agreement focuses on leveraging Ant's technology to improve scalability and service offerings across MTN's African and Middle Eastern markets.
Yuno Partners with Onafriq to Connect Global Merchants to African Payments
Yuno has partnered with Onafriq to integrate hundreds of African payment methods into its global orchestration platform. The deal aims to simplify cross-border commerce for international merchants by providing a single gateway to local options like mobile money and bank transfers.
OneDosh Secures $1 Million Pre-Seed Funding for Stablecoin Payments Platform
South African fintech startup OneDosh has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to build a payments platform using stablecoins. The company aims to facilitate faster, cheaper cross-border transactions by allowing users to send stablecoins that are converted into local currency for recipients.
JUMO and Nedbank Launch Digital Lending Ecosystem in South Africa
JUMO and Nedbank have launched a cloud-based digital lending platform designed to accelerate credit delivery to consumers and SMEs in South Africa. The partnership reflects a wider trend of banks collaborating with fintech infrastructure providers to modernize services and expand financial inclusion.
Nedbank Partners with Fintech Jumo to Launch AI-Driven Quick Loans
Nedbank has partnered with fintech Jumo to launch AI-driven Quick Loans, offering rapid digital credit assessments. The move aligns with a South African banking sector increasingly focused on digital innovation, even as the central bank prioritizes improving core payment infrastructure over launching a retail digital currency.
MTN Fintech partners with Ant International to enhance mobile money platform
MTN Group Fintech has partnered with Ant International to enhance its Mobile Money platform and develop a next-generation super app. The collaboration aims to leverage Ant's technology to expand financial services and accelerate digital inclusion across MTN's African markets.
PayAngel expands African payouts with Visa and Currencycloud integration
PayAngel has partnered with Visa and Currencycloud to expand its remittance payout network across Africa, aiming for faster and more transparent transfers to bank accounts and mobile wallets. The move aligns with broader industry efforts to improve cross-border payment efficiency on the continent through new partnerships and digital asset integrations.
South Africa's Payments Landscape Evolves as Regulator Prioritizes Modernization
The South African Reserve Bank has stated that faster, cheaper digital payments must be established before a retail CBDC is launched. This comes as a fragmented payments market, with numerous competing methods, reshapes competition between banks and fintechs.
South African Reserve Bank prioritizes payment system upgrades over retail CBDC launch
The South African Reserve Bank has indicated that enhancements to the country's digital payment infrastructure, focusing on speed and cost, are necessary before launching a retail central bank digital currency. This comes amid broader industry shifts, including Nedbank's launch of AI-driven loans and ongoing discussions about the role of AI in reshaping financial services.
Nedbank and JUMO Deploy AI for Microloans, Targeting Unbanked South Africans
Nedbank and fintech partner JUMO are using AI to assess credit risk based on non-traditional data like mobile money history, offering small loans to South Africans without formal credit. The service aims to provide an alternative to high-cost informal lenders for an estimated 20 million people.
MTN Group Launches Pan-African Streaming Service One TV
MTN Group has launched a new video streaming platform, One TV, in four African countries. The service represents the telecom operator's renewed attempt to capture a share of the continent's growing digital content market.
South Africa dissolves payments regulator PASA, transfers oversight to PayInc and central bank
South Africa has dissolved the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) after 30 years, transferring its functions to a new industry body, PayInc, and the South African Reserve Bank. The restructuring centralizes regulatory oversight with the central bank while PayInc handles operational rule-setting, reflecting a broader shift in payment system governance.
Yoco and Stub Integrate to Offer Combined Payments and Accounting Platform
South African fintech firms Yoco and Stub have integrated their platforms to offer small businesses a combined payments and accounting solution. The partnership aims to automate financial administration as the country undergoes a payments regulatory transition from PASA to the South African Reserve Bank and PayInc.
Nedbank partners with JUMO to launch AI-driven credit ecosystem in South Africa
Nedbank has partnered with fintech platform JUMO to develop an AI-powered credit ecosystem in South Africa, aiming to extend lending to underserved consumers and SMEs using alternative data. The announcement follows Yoco's acquisition of Dyner.ai, highlighting a broader industry trend of embedding AI into financial services to drive inclusion and innovation.
Yoco Acquires Dyner.ai to Boost AI Commerce Tools for South African SMEs
South African fintech Yoco has acquired AI firm Dyner.ai to enhance data analytics for its merchants, following a recent CEO transition. The move aligns with broader industry trends where providers are embedding AI into financial services to drive SME growth and efficiency.
Yoco Founder Maphai Exits as Fintech Appoints First External CEO
Yoco co-founder Katlego Maphai has stepped down as CEO, succeeded by European banking veteran Carl Wöcke Höltkemeyer. The leadership change comes as the South African fintech, which serves over 200,000 businesses, recently acquired an AI startup to enhance its commerce tools.
Renewables Cut Desalination Costs, Bolstering Africa's Water Security
Declining renewable energy costs are making desalination an increasingly viable solution for water-stressed African nations. This shift is enabling countries to invest in large-scale desalination projects, addressing projected water scarcity in the coming decades.