South African card-linked instalment platform Float has expanded to the UK.
South African card-linked instalment platform Float has launched its service in the UK, backed by the UK government’s global entrepreneur programme.
Launched in SA in 2021, Float enables consumers to split any purchase into up to 24 interest-free and fee-free monthly instalments, using the credit they already have on their existing Visa or Mastercard credit cards.
Float founder and CEO Alex Forsyth-Thompson says the company is globally scalable because all markets run on the same technology stack.
“We have a dedicated UK-focused business development team, which will expand as we continue to scale our UK client base. Operationally, we have certain critical functions, such as compliance, anti-money laundering and legal, in the UK, with other functions supported by our SA team. From a management perspective, we have a UK-based director and our CFO, Paul Masson, and I travel to the UK every few weeks.”
Float says UK consumers are sitting on an estimated £250 billion in unused available credit across roughly 55 million credit cards. Nearly half of all credit card accounts incur interest in any given month, indicating that for these consumers, the repayment cycle – not access to credit – is the constraint.
“The issue in the UK is on a far bigger scale, so it presents an enormous opportunity for us to expand and add the same value in a new market,” says Forsyth-Thompson. “We are already seeing success: merchant take-up has been significantly faster than our SA launch a few years ago.”
In terms of general strategy, Forsyth-Thompson says there is no difference between the SA and UK markets – the core instalments are identical – but the go-to-market approach differs.
“In South Africa, after four years, we’re a broad-based platform across more than 2 200 stores spanning electronics, furniture and homeware, sport, auto, fashion and healthcare, with direct-to-shopper marketing running at scale,” he says. In the UK, Float is primarily a merchant-focused brand, with its technology enabling merchants to offer their own instalment payment method to their shoppers.
Across its merchant base, Float increases average order value by about 134%, driven by larger baskets, improved conversion and access to a higher-spending shopper segment.
Forsyth-Thompson says the figure is calculated across its South African merchant base, but the fintech is already seeing similar results in the UK.
“The number comes from comparing each merchant’s average order value before and after adopting Float. It’s a metric we track internally, and we consistently see this increase hold true. In South Africa, Float is present in close to 1 000 merchants.”
Float has raised over R280 million in equity and debt funding from Standard Bank, Invenfin (a Remgro subsidiary), Platform Investment Partners, Saad Investment Holdings and others.
Forsyth-Thompson adds that SA is currently the company’s only market in Africa, and the UK its first international market.
“As our technology leverages global credit card rails, we focus on expanding into markets with high card penetration. We haven’t ruled out expanding elsewhere in Africa in time.”
