SA fintech operator adds mobile money to its services
06 April 2025 - 16:59
by Mudiwa Gavaza
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SA fintech operator Peach Payments has agreed to buy West African payment platform PayDunya, giving it entry into the francophone market while also adding mobile money to its services.
The acquisition is the third by Peach since closing a $30m (R547.87m) funding round, led by the Apis Growth Fund II, in 2023.
Peach, the second-largest online payment gateway in SA, was founded by Rahul Jain and Andreas Demleitner in 2012 in Cape Town. It expanded to Kenya in 2018, Mauritius in 2021 and Eswatini in 2024.
“Peach’s ambition has always been to build a pan-African player,” Jain told Business Day. “In a couple of markets we went in organically, as Peach. But as you go deeper into Africa, you realise that local context and socioeconomic factors change. Working with the right partners becomes key.”
The payments start-up — used by the likes of Flight Centre, UCook, Naked Insurance, Sweepsouth, Superbalist, Adidas SA, NetFlorist and Computicket — enables small and large merchants to accept, manage and make e-commerce and digital payments via mobile devices and the web.
Services include online payment acceptance, payouts (disbursements) and subscription through various payment methods such as cards, electronic funds transfers, digital wallets, mobile money and buy-now, pay-later options.
In addition to the geographic expansion, Jain sees opportunity in adding mobile money to its suite of offerings with the transaction. A banking penetration rate of more than 80% among South Africans has often been blamed on the lacklustre adoption and performance of mobile payments locally. Elsewhere on the continent, where the banking penetration rate averages 35%, mobile money has taken off.
PayDunya operates in six West African francophone countries: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali. It facilitates sending and receiving payments on websites and mobile applications, as well as collection and disbursement of bulk payments.
Founded in 2015 by then ESMT-Dakar students Aziz Yérima, Youma Fall, Christian Palouki and Honoré Hounwanou, collectively from Senegal, Togo and Ivory Coast, the company is based in Dakar.
It processes payments for enterprises including Jeune Afrique, VFS Global, SUNU Assurances, Dubai Port Dakar, Sky Mali and YAS.
Yérima said PayDunya was profitable early on, turning €20,000 of bootstrap financing into a company that now employs more than 40 people and serves more than 4,000 business-to-business customers. It processes 70,000 transactions daily.
With strong unit economics, PayDunya was profitable in its third year and has increased its revenues every year since.
According to Statista, revenue in the West African e-commerce market is projected to reach $15.33bn, with 47.7-million users, by 2029. User penetration is expected to reach 12.5% by 2029 and the average revenue per user is forecast at $330.96.
In February 2024 Peach Payments bought technology for in-store payments from Exipay and in June that year it bought customer software development firm Operativa to boost its engineering operations.
The PayDunya deal is expected to be completed within the next few months, pending standard closing conditions and procedures.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Peach Payments buys francophone payments provider PayDunya
SA fintech operator adds mobile money to its services
SA fintech operator Peach Payments has agreed to buy West African payment platform PayDunya, giving it entry into the francophone market while also adding mobile money to its services.
The acquisition is the third by Peach since closing a $30m (R547.87m) funding round, led by the Apis Growth Fund II, in 2023.
Peach, the second-largest online payment gateway in SA, was founded by Rahul Jain and Andreas Demleitner in 2012 in Cape Town. It expanded to Kenya in 2018, Mauritius in 2021 and Eswatini in 2024.
“Peach’s ambition has always been to build a pan-African player,” Jain told Business Day. “In a couple of markets we went in organically, as Peach. But as you go deeper into Africa, you realise that local context and socioeconomic factors change. Working with the right partners becomes key.”
The payments start-up — used by the likes of Flight Centre, UCook, Naked Insurance, Sweepsouth, Superbalist, Adidas SA, NetFlorist and Computicket — enables small and large merchants to accept, manage and make e-commerce and digital payments via mobile devices and the web.
Services include online payment acceptance, payouts (disbursements) and subscription through various payment methods such as cards, electronic funds transfers, digital wallets, mobile money and buy-now, pay-later options.
In addition to the geographic expansion, Jain sees opportunity in adding mobile money to its suite of offerings with the transaction. A banking penetration rate of more than 80% among South Africans has often been blamed on the lacklustre adoption and performance of mobile payments locally. Elsewhere on the continent, where the banking penetration rate averages 35%, mobile money has taken off.
PayDunya operates in six West African francophone countries: Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali. It facilitates sending and receiving payments on websites and mobile applications, as well as collection and disbursement of bulk payments.
Founded in 2015 by then ESMT-Dakar students Aziz Yérima, Youma Fall, Christian Palouki and Honoré Hounwanou, collectively from Senegal, Togo and Ivory Coast, the company is based in Dakar.
It processes payments for enterprises including Jeune Afrique, VFS Global, SUNU Assurances, Dubai Port Dakar, Sky Mali and YAS.
Yérima said PayDunya was profitable early on, turning €20,000 of bootstrap financing into a company that now employs more than 40 people and serves more than 4,000 business-to-business customers. It processes 70,000 transactions daily.
With strong unit economics, PayDunya was profitable in its third year and has increased its revenues every year since.
According to Statista, revenue in the West African e-commerce market is projected to reach $15.33bn, with 47.7-million users, by 2029. User penetration is expected to reach 12.5% by 2029 and the average revenue per user is forecast at $330.96.
In February 2024 Peach Payments bought technology for
in-store payments from Exipay and in June that year it bought customer software development firm Operativa to boost its engineering operations.
The PayDunya deal is expected to be completed within the next few months, pending standard closing conditions and procedures.
gavazam@businesslive.co.za
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