South Africa boasts a thriving fintech industry that benefits not just the country but the whole African continent. The country has long served as a significant trade investment and commercial center for the African continent’s international trade. Its two global cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town make it distinctive. Through the course of this article, we will be looking at six different fintech companies in South Africa.
What is Fintech South Africa
The term “fintech” refers to financial technology. Fintech businesses are those that seek to enhance and computerize the distribution and usage of financial services.
Fintechs are corporations, company owners, and normal people who employ specialized software and algorithms on computers and, increasingly, smartphones to help them manage their financial operations, procedures, and lifestyles.
Why does South Africa have an emerging fintech hub?
First, South Africa is part of the BRICS group, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Each of the five countries has a sizable population and a developing economy. Despite current economic difficulties in some of them, the five countries nevertheless have enormous populations, developing markets, and prospects.
Despite recent setbacks, South Africa has a well-established ecosystem that encompasses not just its financial services industry but also a sizable market. For example, Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, is home to some of the continent’s most powerful banks and financial institutions, including Standard Bank Group, FirstRand, Absa Group, Nedbank Group, and Investec, making it a potential fintech magnet.
Indeed, several of the top 10 largest banks on the African continent by assets are South African.
South Africa’s second-biggest city, famed for its magnificent scenery and tourism, is also a major participant in the technology sector. The Western Cape, which includes Cape Town, is home to the bulk of the industry, accounting for 47 percent of all digital start-ups, with Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg, coming in second at 44 percent. Furthermore, Cape Town is home to 75% of the country’s venture capital agreements.
How many fintech companies are in South Africa?
In 2021, 154 fintech startups were located in South Africa. The country counted the highest number of such companies in the Africa region. Nigeria followed closely with 144 fintech, while 93 had headquarters in Kenya.
Fintech companies in South Africa
There are 154 FinTech startups in South Africa. Here is a list of the 7 most exciting ones;
Jumo |Online marketplace for consumer & business loans and mobile-based banking channels
Jumo is an online marketplace for consumer & business loans and mobile-based banking channels. It offers lending products that enables entrepreneurs to avail themselves of loans & asset finance. The loan amount, life cycle, and repayment method can be configured based on the individual’s requirements. It offers an AI-powered technology stack that connects banks with traditionally inaccessible customers and enables banks to deploy loans, savings, and insurance services.
P65 Ventures, Athena Capital, Vostok Emerging Finance and 13 Other Investors [Investor Details]
Yoco |Payment processing solutions for businesses and merchants
Payment processing solutions for businesses and merchants. Its product includes NFC-enabled and hardware-based card machines, payment gateways, link-based payments, and more. It provides Yoco App, an app-based platform for managing sales and tracking performance. App is available on iOS and Android devices.
Company Overview
Founded Year
2015
Location
(South Africa)
Funding
USD 107M [Funding Details]
Investors
Futuregrowth, The Raba Partnership, Uncovered Fund and 9 Other Investors [Investor Details]
Ozow |Payment processing solutions for businesses & merchants
Ozow offers payment processing solutions for businesses & merchants. It offers solutions such as payment gateways, QR-based payments, invoice payments, link-based payments, and more. It enables users to make online payments via credit/debit cards, bank transfers, and wallets. It features OzowPIN for payment confirmation in order for doing banking transactions.
Online platform for payday loans. It offers unsecured short-term loans that can be used for multiple purposes. Users must provide personal information and apply for the loan. Once approved, the funds are transferred to the registered bank account.
Adumo |Provider of payment processing for businesses
Payment processing services for businesses are provided by this company. It provides a digital payment solution for shops, multinational corporations, entrepreneurs, and traders to accept online payments from clients through a variety of payment methods.
It also offers working capital loans to help businesses sustain cash flow, as well as consumer interaction platforms, business, in-store consumer credit platforms, retail point of sale software and hardware, customer analytics, and electronic voucher distribution, among other things.
Apis Partners, Crossfin, International Finance Corporation and 1 Other Investors [Investor Details]
Conclusion
South Africa has long played a significant role on the African continent, and despite present issues, the country’s innovations and skills will hopefully continue to be seen in the future – both in fintech and in the broader economic development of the global economy.
