Optasia CEO Salvador Anglada. Image: Supplied Optasia, a fintech company partly owned by Ethos Capital, plans to list on the JSE and raise up to R6.3-billion by selling a combination of new and existing shares. The company, which operates AI-powered financial services in 38 countries, will raise about R1.3-billion in a lsiting and also hold…
Fintech firm Optasia has set sights on listing on the JSE. Financial technology (fintech) firm Optasia has set sights on listing on the JSE. In a statement today, the company announced it is proposing to undertake a primary issuance of approximately R1.3 billion ($75 million equivalent) to support growth, both organically and through future potential…
Deon Tromp, CEO of Omnea. South African fintech company InstaPay has launched a new digital wallet, InstaPay Gini, aimed at underbanked and unbanked South Africans. InstaPay Gini operates as an open-loop wallet, designed to be used across a broad network of merchants rather than being tied to a single provider. The company says the platform…
Float founder and CEO Alex Forsyth-Thompson South African fintech start-up Float has raised US$2.6-million (R46-million) in new funding for local expansion, to enhance its proprietary technology and to prepare for international growth. The four-year-old card-linked instalment platform currently serves about 2 000 retail stores and processes thousands of high-value transactions monthly, with average order values…
TLDR The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) has launched applications for the seventh edition of the MEST Africa Challenge, this year focused on fintech MEST runs a pan-African software training programme, seed fund, and incubator that supports early-stage technology ventures Its annual challenge, now in its seventh year, awards winners $50,000 in equity funding…
Nedbank has acquired Durban-based payments fintech iKhokha in an all-cash deal valued at R1.65 billion. This acquisition is a significant move for Nedbank, as it looks to strengthen its support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. Read: Bandwidth Blog & Smile 90.4FM Tech Tuesday: iPad Pro and VR? “The acquisition is a…
Visa has selected 22 startups for the fourth cohort of its Africa Fintech Accelerator, a 12-week virtual programme aimed at scaling fintech solutions The programme is part of Visa’s $1 billion commitment to Africa’s digital and financial inclusion, pledged through 2027 Launched in 2023, the accelerator has supported 64 startups to date and facilitated nearly…
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in the financial services industry. As artificial intelligence (AI) takes on a growing role in financial services, from granting loans, to automating small-business bookkeeping, banks grapple with how to use it responsibly and authorities seek to put rules in place. Ciko Thomas, group managing executive of personal and private…
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) during the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Kent Nishimura | Bloomberg | Getty Images JPMorgan Chase says fintech middlemen — the companies that have helped a…
Stitch has announced that it has acquired Efficacy Payments, enabling it to offer card acquiring services directly to merchants as a designated clearing system participant (DCSP) and provide more seamless and cost-effective transactions. Image supplied “We’re excited to welcome the Efficacy team into the Stitch Group and offer this critical solution to the merchants we…
