South African fintech startup Peach Payments has expanded to Kenya and Nigeria on the back of launching its new PaySafe offering.
Launched in Cape Town in 2013, Peach Payments makes customer payments to online merchants seamless and secure and is now processing more than ZAR1 billion (US$72.75 million) in transactions per year.
The startup launched its new offering, PaySafe, this month, and is now expanding into Kenya and Nigeria with plans for other African countries in the near future.
“Our solutions address the pain points of traditional payment methods and are geared to the realities of the African market,” said Peach Payments co-founder Rahul Jain.
“One of the biggest challenges businesses in emerging economies face is that traditional online payment systems in Europe and the United States were developed in and for these markets. Despite there being many players in the payments solutions space, the dire need for advanced payment platforms in developing countries presented us with a tremendous opportunity.”
PaySafe is aimed at businesses that are not online but still want an online payment facility, with SMEs able to simply email clients who will be able to click and pay online. No integration is required, and merchants can customise it with their logo.
“Peach PaySafe allows users to improve their cash flows and dramatically reduce administrative costs associated with collecting payments whilst making the transaction much safer,” Jain said.
“Our insight into our home market has allowed us to create a payment system that works smoothly for mobile and online merchants and their customers and now for non online business, and to develop allied products that solve real pain points.”
Over 200 South African online merchants are using currently Peach Payments, including Zando, Spree, Safarinow and Quicket, with international merchants also coming on board. The startup allows businesses to accept payments across all channels – website, mobile sites and mobile apps – and gives them access to all payment methods.
“During the checkout process, the user never leaves the merchant’s website – the payment widget is securely embedded into the checkout procedure on the site. This sets Peach Payments apart from many online payment systems that take the user to another website, a payment gateway, to complete the payment,” said Jain.
