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Tag: Stitch

  • South African fintech Stitch closes $55millon funding round

    South African fintech Stitch closes $55millon funding round

    Stitch, a South African fintech company, secured additional $55 million in funding, according to a statement released April 10.

    The company aims to strengthen its position in Africa’s rapidly evolving payments sector by enhancing its end-to-end payment solutions. With this latest round, Stitch has now raised a total of $101 million to tackle payment inefficiencies and interoperability challenges across the continent.

    Stitch, established in 2019 by Kiaan Pillay, Natalie Cuthbert, and Priyen Pillay, specialises in payment infrastructure and open banking. Its technology facilitates the secure connection between businesses and users’ financial accounts, simplifying transactions for enterprise and e-commerce clients. Major African enterprises, including MTN, MultiChoice, and Standard Bank‘s SnapScan, are among the company’s clients.

    As Kiaan Pillay, Sti tch CEO and co-founder, noted, “The goal is to build the rails that power Africa’s digital economy.” This vision aligns with Stitch’s recent expansion efforts, including the acquisition of payment provider Exipay earlier this year. The acquisition marked Stitch’s entry into the in-person payments market, with Exipay’s platform rebranded as “Stitch In-Person Payments.”

    Stitch expansion and investment details

    Raba Partners contributed $4.2 million to the $55 million investment round, which existing investors backed. This investment shows Raba’s ongoing faith in Stitch’s potential for expansion.

    Stitch has a track record of successfully generating funds to fund its growth. In February 2021, it obtained $4 million in startup finance, and in October 2021, it obtained a $2 million seed extension. In February 2022, Stitch announced a $21 million Series A investment round sponsored by Ribbit Capital, which was expanded by an additional $25 million in October 2023.

    Stitch will use the money to expand into new African markets and improve its APIs for enterprise-grade finance solutions. This strategy helps Stitch compete in a congested fintech sector where Flutterwave and Paystack have expanded.

    Stitch’s capital raising shows its potential to alter African payments despite regulatory hurdles and competition.

  • Stitch acquires ExiPay to bolster unified payment solutions for online, physical retail stores

    Stitch acquires ExiPay to bolster unified payment solutions for online, physical retail stores

    ExiPay, a provider of in-person payment solutions, has been acquired by Stitch, a South African fintech company that specialises in online payment infrastructure, to create a single payment platform for both online and offline retail settings.

    According to the statement released by Stitch on Monday, the platform will now be able to provide a strong unified commerce solution for retail companies, allowing it to assist enterprise companies with even more of their payment requirements as a result of the acquisition.

    Read also: South Africa’s e-KasiCare shortlisted for Huawei Tech4Good global competition

    The platform can provide multi-lane retail and omnichannel commerce enterprises with a genuinely unified and dependable platform by incorporating its in-person payments product.

    The statement reads, “We now offer a robust unified commerce solution for retail businesses, enabling us to serve enterprise businesses with even more of their payment needs. With the addition of our in-person payments offering, we can support multi-lane retail and omnichannel commerce businesses with a truly unified and reliable platform.”

    Organisational gap to be filled by Stitch’s acquisition of ExiPay

    CEO Kiaan Pillay saw an organisational gap in the in-person payments industry, which will be filled by the acquisition of ExiPay, which places its six-person team under the “Stitch In-person payments” brand and serves Stitch’s current enterprise clients, including Bash, MTN, Cell C, and MultiChoice.

    Additionally, Stitch is going to take on ExiPay’s current merchants, such as Bash, an omnichannel retail platform operated by TFG (The Foschini Group), which currently services both online and in-person payments.

    Luke Jedeikin, Co-Founder and CEO at Bash, said: “At Bash, we’re committed to providing our customers with seamless and reliable payment experiences, both online and in-store.

    Read also: Nigerian fintech Accrue lands $1.58 million seed investment

    Partnering with Stitch enhances our ability to deliver on this promise by streamlining operations and improving payment success rates whilst offering our customers more ways to pay wherever they shop.”

    Stitch, which was established in 2019, has raised $52 million and plans to expand into Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt. By offering business clients an omnichannel payment solution that combines online and in-person payment capabilities, the strategic acquisition expands Stitch’s product portfolio and enables it to meet growing market demands in South Africa’s retail industry.

  • Stitch partners with Vodacom to enable direct bank transfers on VodaPay wallet

    Stitch partners with Vodacom to enable direct bank transfers on VodaPay wallet

    Stitch announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Vodacom Financial Services to enhance the VodaPay wallet. This collaboration aims to streamline the topping up wallets directly from bank accounts, eliminating the need for physical store visits. 

    Read also: How a Centenary Bank customer lost millions in devastating online scam in Uganda

    Enhancing user experience

    VodaPay, designed to simplify digital transactions, offers online shopping and bill payment services. With Stitch’s secure payment solutions integrated into VodaPay, users can enjoy faster and more reliable transactions. 

    Zweli Zulu, Product and Payments Lead at VodaPay, expressed his enthusiasm, “My experience working with Stitch has been phenomenal. From day one, I knew this was going to be a perfect partnership for VodaPay.”

    Stitch’s commitment to excellent support during integration included sending engineers to work alongside the VodaPay team, ensuring a smooth rollout.

    A step towards financial inclusion

    This partnership enhances convenience and promotes financial inclusion in Africa. By leveraging Stitch’s technology, VodaPay users can access a broader range of financial services, including micro-loans and insurance products, directly within the app. 

    Zulu highlighted the importance of this collaboration, “Stitch’s white labelling, secured tokenisation, quick turnaround times, and their commitment to delivering real value make this partnership truly beneficial”.

    As VodaPay continues to grow, such partnerships are vital in integrating more users into the digital economy.

    Read also: IMF calls for policy reforms to address gender gap in STEM, green jobs

    About VodaPay

    VodaPay is a digital wallet and super-app developed by Vodacom that is designed to facilitate seamless financial transactions. Launched in 2021, it allows users to send money, pay bills, and purchase at various retailers without incurring fees. As of January 2025, VodaPay has over 3.3 million registered users and features like cash deposits through partner stores. The app enhances financial inclusion by providing accessible digital services to banked and unbanked individuals.

    About Stitch

    Stitch Money, a South African fintech company founded in 2020, offers technology solutions for digital payments, allowing businesses to connect users’ bank accounts for seamless transactions. Their services include one-click deposits, secure payments, and easy account linking, which enhance user experience and reduce transaction costs.

    Stitch promotes financial inclusion by offering low-cost, fraud-free payment options tailored to the African market. As an authorised Third-Party Payment Provider, Stitch partners with merchants and financial institutions to offer budgeting and lending solutions.

  • Stitch brings in $25M in Series A Ribbit Capital-led expansion

    Stitch brings in $25M in Series A Ribbit Capital-led expansion

    Stitch, a South African fintech, brings in $25M in Series A Ribbit Capital-led expansion, bringing the round’s overall amount to $46M.

    Stitch’s payments solution is meant to satisfy the difficult and evolving payment needs of Stitch’s enterprise clients. This funding will position the fintech as a market leader in this payments category. 

    The fintech’s primary focus is empowering businesses to build, scale, and optimise their financial products. Additionally, the company offers API gateways to improve the conversion rate for online payments and optimise its customers’ payment processing processes. 

    Stitch has increased its total Series A capital to $46 million after successfully completing an extension round of funding sponsored by the global fintech investor Ribbit Capital. Participants in the round included investors who had previously supported the company, such as CRE Ventures, PayPal Ventures, and the Raba Partnership.

    Read also: Stitch evolves into full payments service provider with new products

    The impact of funding on Stitch’s operations 

    Stitch is on target to execute over 50 million transactions this year, totalling $2 billion in total payment volume (TPV), making Ribbit Capital’s deep knowledge of the global fintech industry and new countries extremely beneficial to the company.

    These numbers are based on seven different product features that Stitch has introduced since the beginning of 2022. Prior to beginning its onslaught of feature releases, Stitch functioned as a platform for quasi-data and quasi-bank-to-bank payments. Its customers, which include both large corporations and sole proprietors, have the ability to use its platform to gain access to the financial accounts of their clients and to innovate in the areas of delivering services such as personal finance, loans, insurance, payments, and asset management.

    It has now developed into a provider of comprehensive payment services. Customers have the ability to take payments through pay by bank, debit and credit cards, recurring debits, cash, and manual bank transfers; manage, coordinate, and reconcile payments across numerous methods, providers, and geographies in one dashboard with PayOS; and disburse monies via payouts. 

    PayOS is also available to customers. E-commerce checkouts, finance operations, financial services, lending and insurance, marketplaces, and recurring payments are just some of the use cases that can be implemented using this technology.

    Stitch Raises US$21Million in Funding For Its Financial Services

    The target of Stitch

    According to Stitch, the end-to-end payment solutions it provides are targeted largely towards enterprise firms in South Africa. A few examples of these companies include MTN, Multichoice, the Foschini Group (TFG), Standard Bank’s SnapScan, and Yoco. Nevertheless, according to what Pillay claimed in the interview, the company still has a few customers in Nigeria and other African nations where it has licences to operate. 

    These customers are startups and other small enterprises. In addition to providing services to global PSP partners, the fintech company, which counts Mono, Okra, Revio, and MoneyHash among its rivals, is currently in discussions to provide the same services to a select global consumer internet company.

    “We moved away from being a single method platform to a next-generation PSP for local and global enterprises,” said the CEO who founded Stitch with Natalie Cuthbert and Priyen Pillay. 

    “Initially, we just had a pay-in feature where we support bank and card payments. While we’ve added more, we now have an orchestration layer, which many enterprises use to manage payment methods and reconcile across different banks. And we do payouts, whether a disbursement, a refund, or a withdrawal. Our solution is attractive for global companies trying to enter the market for the first time because of the end-to-end process.”

    Pillay stated during the call that the fintech intends to use the money from its Series A funding round to continue building its platform, expanding its customer base, and grabbing opportunities to serve new markets.

    “Everything we do is client-focused. We’ll continue to optimise for what they have. And then scale geographically with them and deeper in products they already have,” the CEO remarked. 

    “We also want to continue adding as many first-party payment methods as possible. Our value proposition has been precision engineering and deep infrastructure, so, for instance, we are looking at connecting to card and bank rails without intermediating. Things like this are often slow and capital intensive; that’s why we raised.”

  • Stitch evolves into full payments service provider with new products

    Stitch evolves into full payments service provider with new products

    Stitch, a South African financial technology startup, has announced the integration of card and debit order pay-ins, as well as a payments management system called PayOS, for the purpose of payments orchestration and reconciliation.

    The startup has evolved into a full-fledged payments service provider as a result of the introduction of new products or services (PSP, a third party that lets businesses to accept digital payments, manage those payments, and send those payments via a variety of different methods).

    Junaid Dadan, President of Stitch, elaborates on the company’s most recent product introduction.

     “At Stitch, we’re delighted to introduce our next evolution.

    We released two new payment options today, Card and Debit Order, as well as PayOS, our payments orchestration and reconciliation system. Stitch has now evolved to become a full, end-to-end Payments Service Provider by combining our existing pay-in methods with Payouts.”

    Read also: Customers can now make direct deposit payments on Stitch

    It announced its first pay-in mechanism, Fast EFT, late in 2021.

    They transitioned from a single-method supplier to a multi-method service with the introduction of Direct Deposit in November 2022 and CashPay in February 2023, in addition to Payouts.

    As a result of its most recent offers, Stitch has evolved into a full-service PSP.

    Stitch’s Reason for PSP

    Stitch is a company that puts its customers first. In addition to acting as a payments provider, they collaborate closely with client teams in the role of thinking partners, assisting them in improving the efficiency with which they manage their payment environments. Its customers have, throughout the course of time, begun requesting that they provide them with an even greater variety of solutions. This development is an effort to bridge holes that is perceived in the market across the payments stack, and it is largely a response to the desire that was expressed earlier.

    The payments suite offered by Stitch is now created exclusively for enterprises that have complex payment requirements, and it offers a high level of flexibility as well as the ability to be customised.

    How to Buy Gift Cards in Nigeria

    How the Operation of Stitch changes 

    Due to a centralised API integration, its customers can accept payments with several methods including; Instant EFT, Debit + Credit Card, Debit Order, Direct Deposit and Cash; effortlessly disburse cash with Payouts; track, manage and reconcile payments received across multiple methods, providers and geographies with PayOS.

    Recently, Stitch began accepting payments with credit and debit cards. With Stitch Card, clients are granted the ability to possess their own network tokens. Because of this, customers are not bound to a single service provider; rather, they have the freedom to switch processors at any time while still retaining possession of their tokens.

    The startup is able to reduce the number of payments that are declined by automatically updating cards when they are lost or expired. It provides direct interfaces with a number of different banks. This provides redundancy, which in turn leads to higher uptime and acceptance rates.

    They are able to eliminate the need for manual chargeback management by giving customers the ability to view and respond to chargebacks directly from within their dashboard.

    Moreover, customers can now accept payments made with debit orders or debit checks through Stitch by:

    A user experience that has been optimised: While making a debit order, the user experience can be considerably improved by utilising Stitch’s pre-built, optimised, and hosted processes.

    Optimised collections in conjunction with intelligent routing: Customers are able to view, based on data reflecting their accounts in real-time, the dates that work best for collections. It is also possible to combine Debit Orders with tokenized cards or bank accounts in order to enable a seamless collecting procedure. This is done by selecting the technique that is most suitable for the individual consumer.

    Reduced risk of fraudulent activity as a result of integrated account holder verification. The full payment option has enabled Stitch to serve its customers better.

  • Customers can now make direct deposit payments on Stitch

    Customers can now make direct deposit payments on Stitch

    Stitch, a payments and data API business based in South Africa has announced the addition of direct deposit or manual transfer as a payment option. This will enable Stitch’s clients in South Africa to give their customers a greater number of different methods to pay using a single API.

    According to a press statement, Stitch’s direct deposit service will enable businesses to bypass the need to create and maintain specific integrations with individual banks, receive updates for payments made via manual EFT, reconcile payments flawlessly alongside other Stitch methods, and enjoy faster settlement times. 

    In addition, businesses will be able to save time by avoiding the need to create and maintain direct integrations with individual banks.

    Stitch’s Chief Product Officer, Junaid Dadan, had this to say in response to the launch of the product:

    “We want to give consumers more choice in how they wish to pay, while ensuring a fantastic experience for them, and taking the headache out of payments acceptance and reconciliation for the merchant. With Direct Deposit, customers can choose to initiate a transfer from their banking apps to a merchant account. The merchant will be notified instantly, and the transactions will be automatically reconciled alongside other payments coming through Stitch – no need for businesses to develop and maintain integrations with each bank individually.”

    Read also: Stitch Raises US$21Million in Funding For Its Financial Services

    The Introduction of Stitch in 2021

    Open banking is a concept that was the driving force behind the conception of Stitch. The company was founded on the premise that opening up access to bank data would hasten the rate of innovation all over the continent. 

    “We were under the impression that the introduction of ground-breaking new financial products would follow shortly after giving companies the ability to simply build on top of banking data.”

    So far, we’ve been spot on. Since we came out of stealth mode in February of this year, we have been absolutely blown away by the inventiveness of the companies that we collaborate with. 

    This includes everything from apps that support novel ways to save money to brick-and-mortar vendors who have found ways to offer loans to their customers. We have had the opportunity to observe how the potential of open banking data has enabled hundreds of firms to access previously inaccessible product opportunities.

    However, we quickly came to the conclusion that merely providing our consumers with access to data was not sufficient to fulfil all of their requirements. Stitch Payments, our newest product line, will be available for purchase today, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this news with you.

    Access to open banking data and an enhanced experience using pay by the bank are only two examples.

    Early on, it became abundantly evident to us that, in addition to the obstacles of accessing user data, businesses battled to find inexpensive methods of accepting payments on their platforms, ideally with an increased number of and improvements upon the customer’s available options. 

    Zapper Collaborates With Stitch To Allow Customers To Make Instant Payments

    More Importance of the Role of Stitch

    Card payments, for example, are not especially widespread throughout the continent; furthermore, in certain areas, such as South Africa, there are substantial costs associated with card transactions. According to an article that was published earlier this month in Quartz, bank transfers make up a sizeable share of the payment choices available in large markets such as South Africa and Nigeria.

    Further difficulties were provided by several other possibilities for bank payments. In contrast to card technology, the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) system, which is a robust interbank transfer rail, permits direct account-to-account payments at a cost that is a fraction of what it would be otherwise. 

    However, manual EFTs have a higher risk of user error, which can result in a higher rate of drop-off as well as potential fraud. When it comes to UI, UX, and security, many of the InstantEFT companies that have entered the market in the past few years face challenges to broad adoption. 

    These barriers include contradictory branding, multiple unneeded screens, and excessive load times.

    We set out to find a solution to this problem by utilising the infrastructure that we had built for open banking data in order to assist businesses in moving money more quickly, securely, and at lower fees – all while providing a better user experience that had the potential to increase conversion rates and decrease drop-off rates.

  • Zapper Collaborates With Stitch To Allow Customers To Make Instant Payments

    Zapper Collaborates With Stitch To Allow Customers To Make Instant Payments

    South African mobile payments startup Zapper collaborates with payments and data API fintech Stitch (via LinkPay—a one-click payments solution) to enable Zapper users to send instant electronic funds transfer (ETF) payments with just one click.
    Zapper was one of the first companies to offer mobile payments in South Africa. It now lets businesses of all sizes offer their customers the most convenient and cutting-edge ways to pay online.

    “Our work with Stitch continues our commitment to ensure Zapper merchants can offer as many payment options as possible.” By providing a simple, secure instant EFT option, customers can still use their favourite scan-to-pay method without relying on a bank-issued card, “Brett White, Zapper’s CEO, said.”

    White added that “in a tighter economy, instant EFT also helps consumers keep a very tight rein on their balances and will be welcomed by the budget-conscious.” We also see this as another way we can help eliminate any barriers to payment for our merchants, who also need every advantage in this economy. ”

    Read also: Nigerian startup, Vella, provides international money transfers without stress

    LinkPay is the first product in Africa to offer secure, one-click, instant EFT payments from a connected financial account. It was made by Stitch in 2022 and offered the same convenience as a card for a lot less money.

    Before Instant EFT, clients of Zapper had to sign into their bank accounts to initiate payment each time they wanted to pay at a Zapper business. By scanning the Zapper QR code at the checkout and selecting to pay from their associated account, consumers can now pay instantly.

    To link an account in the Zapper app, a customer must choose “Link an account” and choose this as their main payment method. They choose their bank and login using their online banking credentials. After authorizing with multi-factor verification (like an in-app approval or OTP), they can make payments with just one click and without having to log in again. This is similar to how it would be with a linked card.

    Customers of Zapper benefit from rapid and easy one-click payments, high transaction success rates, and fewer fraud cases by linking an account.
    According to Kiaan Pillay, “With Stitch LinkPay, Zapper can provide a significantly better experience for customers paying via Instant EFT.” Previously, they needed to log into their bank accounts every time they made a payment to pay with instant EFT. Now, they can go immediately to the front of a coffee shop, scan a QR code, and make a payment from their linked account in one click—meaning they can get on their way much faster. ”

    He said, “for merchants when more customers choose to pay via Instant EFT, they will save on expensive card fees and fraud-related charges. We’re excited to partner with Zapper to bring secure, convenient, one-click Instant EFT payments to more than one million Zapper customers across South Africa.”

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    Customers can safely link a bank account by logging into their Zapper app. Zapper merchants can now accept an increasing number of other payment methods in addition to the company’s traditional scan-to-pay QR solutions for card payments (either at a physical location or through e-commerce offers). These include gift cards, mobile wallets, and third-party choices linked to the Zapper network, such as Instant EFT, Buy Now Pay Later options, and even cryptocurrency wallets—all through a single account.
    In South Africa and Nigeria, where Stitch was first introduced in February 2021, its APIs for payments and financial data is working. LinkPay, the first payments system in Africa that tokenizes user financial accounts to allow one-click, validated payments and smooth payouts for repeat customers, was launched in April after the company announced the end of a $21 million Series A fundraising round.

    The Stitch Gains Ground In Nigeria

    Stitch, an API fintech startup, just like other fast-rising tech firms, arrived in Nigeria with a $2 million seed extension. Along with investors such as Future Africa and the Norrsken Foundation,
    When Stitch came out, a $4 million seed round was revealed. Its total seed round now stands at $6 million. The startup made its official debut in February 2021 with an API that gives software firms access to users’ financial data and tools for identification verification.
    The company claims to have expanded by 40–50% month-over-month since its start. Stitch CEO Kiaan Pillay says, “Nigeria is one of the most active markets on the continent, if not the world, for fintech.” The opportunity we see here is endless. ”
    He says the company plans to become the “go-to partner for any business building financial products in Africa.”

    Other API fintech companies like Mono, which launched a $15 million series, would compete against Stitch.
    Since its launch in 2020, Mono has moved 200 million pieces of financial data and connected 270 companies.

    As Stitch is ready to expand into other African nations, this seed extension will allow them to extend their team in Nigeria and gain an audience they have not been able to reach.

  • Stitch Raises US$21Million in Funding For Its Financial Services

    Stitch Raises US$21Million in Funding For Its Financial Services

    Stitch, a Cape Town-based fintech start-up has raised US$21-million (R315-million) in a funding round that includes PayPal Ventures.

    The round was led by The Spruce House Partnership and includes funding from TrueLayer, Firstminute Capital, The Raba Partnership, CRE Venture Capital, Village Global, and Zinal Growth (the investment vehicle of Checkout.com founder Guillaume Pousaz).

    Stitch, launched just a year ago, said it will use the money to continue linking bank accounts, wallets, and other stores of value, creating what it refers to as “the financial graph”, it said in a statement.

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    The funding will be used to expand the team, launch new product offerings, and enter new markets

    “The funding will be used to significantly expand the team, launch new product offerings and enter new markets across the continent,” it said. The latest round follows a $6-million seed round last year.”

    Stitch is headquartered in Cape Town but also has a presence in Johannesburg and in Lagos, Nigeria.

    Read Also: Ethiopia vows it won’t renege On Mobile Financial Services


    The start-up’s payments and data infrastructure “enables players across the fintech ecosystem — which is traditionally fragmented by technical, commercial and political barriers — to transact seamlessly, expand their revenue and growth potential, and significantly reduce conversion time and cost”, it said.

    API
    “Our goal is to help fast-growing fintech and embedded finance companies more easily launch increasingly innovative and tailored products, expand into new markets, and optimize their solutions – so they can grow even faster,” said co-founder and CEO Kiaan Pillay in the statement.

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    The Stitch application programming interface, or API, allows businesses to access and link their users’ financial accounts to initiate secure bank transfers for one-click pay-ins and payouts; access standardized and categorized transaction history and balance data, for affordability checks and income estimation assessments; and verify account information and ownership, to enable faster and more user-friendly digital onboarding, and to perform fraud chectdmuks.