Stitch Acquires Efficacy for Direct Card Clearing in SA

Local fintech Stitch has acquired Efficacy Payments, a digital payments company that specialises in card acquiring and cash deposit solutions. The acquisition positions Stitch as one of the first fintechs in South Africa to offer direct card clearing both online and in-person.

As a result of the deal, Stitch will now be able to offer end-to-end card acquiring services directly to merchants as a Designated Clearing System Participant (DCSP), streamlining transactions and reducing costs for businesses.

“This enables us to offer a comprehensive, end-to-end card product with full control over the whole product lifecycle,” said the company in a statement.

This marks the second acquisition for Stitch Group following the purchase of ExiPay earlier this year.

With the integration of Efficacy’s technology, Stitch customers will benefit from:

· A single provider for the full card acquiring stack, covering technical, compliance, financial and operational requirements.

· The removal of intermediary banks or switches, reducing potential failure points from the transactions.

· Real-time monitoring of payments and associated fees, along with custom reporting and improved settlement and reconciliation processes.

Stitch co-founder Junaid Dadan said:

We’re excited to welcome the Efficacy team into the Stitch Group and offer this critical solution to the merchants we work with. Card processing is an essential requirement for businesses in South Africa, and we’ve seen a lot of room for improvement when it comes to conversion, recon capabilities and access to the latest technology. We’re excited to see the impact this will have on the way our merchants collect card payments from their customers.”

Launched in 2016, Cape Town-based Efficacy Payments specialises in online payments solutions for businesses. The company has a card acceptance solution for electronic payments and allows customers to deposit cash into their bank account at a retailer.