DPO acquires PayFast to extend its market lead in Africa

DPO Group, the leading African Payment Service Provider (PSP) has announced its acquisition of PayFast – one of the largest payment processors in South Africa to enable it (DPO Group) to provide services to over 100,000 merchants across 18 African markets.

This deal, by the Nairobi headquartered DPO Group, was executed with the PayFast management team (key shareholders in DPO Group) to allow DPO the continuity of improving merchant services and allowing more merchants to transact more broadly at lower cost.    

“PayFast is a natural fit for DPO Group and this deal strategically follows our acquisitions of PayGate, VCS, Paythru and SiD since 2016,” commented Offer Gat, Chairman and co-founder of DPO Group.

The integration of PayFast into DPO’s services will increase the range of payment options available to DPO’s business customers, whilst providing a Pan-African solution to PayFast’s existing customer base.

PayFast has the broadest range of shopping cart integrations in Africa and its Instant EFT service provides consumers with a secure alternative for making online payments.

“This deal, which we believe is the largest acquisition by a PSP in Africa, reinforces our position as a leading PSP on the continent and is an important step forward in our strategic growth across Africa. The combination of DPO Group and PayFast will greatly increase the ability of merchants on our platform to do business with their clients both within and outside of Africa,” added Gat.

The merger will allow all of the Group’s services to be available on a single platform to both DPO Group and PayFast merchants significantly improving their capacity to do business not only across Africa but also worldwide.

Eran Feinstein, CEO and co-founder of DPO Group added, “PayFast’s deep experience of payment processing and facilitation in South Africa complements and expands the services we can offer our business customers via the most diversified and robust suite of online payments options available in Africa.

“The integration of PayFast and the wealth of e-commerce platforms it already works with, is an extremely attractive addition to the Group. It’s about adding value for our merchants, providing more choice and freedom for businesses to pay and be paid throughout Africa,” he said.

In 2016, DPO received investment from Apis Growth Fund I, a Private Equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP. The Fund invests in innovators in the financial services sectors in Africa and Asia. The Fund supported this investment and will continue to facilitate DPO’s expansion across Africa; the broadening of its client base and investment in technology.

PayFast, founded in 2007, uses a facilitator model to process payments, providing a turn-key solution together with its partner banks, but providing a single point of contact for its clients This provides a simple way for businesses to receive payments, saving them considerable time, effort and paperwork, whilst ensuring they have access to a broad range of payment types and bank-level security.

With the largest network of shopping carts in Africa, including global e-commerce platform Shopify, the integration of PayFast into DPO’s services will enable merchants and, in turn, individual consumers to carry out transactions across 18 countries in Africa from a single platform.

Jonathan Smit, Managing Director and co-founder of PayFast, said, “Integrating our processing and facilitation capability with the range of online payment services offered by DPO and its huge geographical reach across 18 countries in Africa is an extremely exciting opportunity for both companies.”

The coming together of two leading online payment specialists will have a positive impact on the African payments landscape and create better future career opportunities for our current and future talent.

PayFast currently enables over 55,000 South African merchants to make quick, simple payments and grow their businesses through e-commerce opportunities.

Through this acquisition, DPO Group aims to enable the growth of African businesses by offering its merchants a greater choice of payment services and providing them with all the necessary tools to make and receive payments effortlessly throughout Africa and internationally.