- Stitch has acquired Efficacy Payments, its second buyout this year
- The deal positions Stitch among the first South African fintechs to offer direct card acquiring services
- Stitch now controls the full lifecycle of card payments, without relying on intermediary banks
- Merchants stand to benefit from improved payment reconciliation, cost savings, and faster innovation
South African fintech startup Stitch has acquired digital payments company Efficacy Payments, according to a statement sent to Techpoint Africa. This marks Stitch’s second strategic acquisition in six months and enables it to offer card acquiring services directly to merchants as a Designated Clearing System Participant (DCSP), a rare status in South Africa.
The deal strengthens Stitch’s position in the payments space by enabling it to process both online and in-person card transactions without relying on intermediary acquiring banks or third-party processors. With this move, Stitch becomes one of the few fintechs in South Africa that can clear card payments end-to-end, streamlining the entire process for merchants.
This acquisition follows Stitch’s January 2025 purchase of ExiPay, which marked its entry into in-store payment services. Stitch has since rebranded ExiPay to “Stitch In-Person Payments,” aiming to create an omnichannel infrastructure for retailers and large businesses. Now, with Efficacy under its belt, Stitch is closing the loop on card payments from point of sale to backend reconciliation.
“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,” said Stitch President and Co-founder, Junaid Dadan. “We’re excited to see the impact this will have on the way our merchants collect card payments from their customers.”
Founded in 2016, Efficacy Payments became the second fintech in South Africa to receive the DCSP designation in 2021. Integrating its capabilities into Stitch allows the combined company to act as gateway, switch, and acquirer, eliminating friction and failure points typically introduced by banks and third-party systems.
Stitch says the integration will deliver tangible benefits to enterprise merchants, including better conversion rates through message path optimisation, real-time transaction tracking, and lower fees due to fewer intermediaries. Merchants will also be able to set up custom reporting and reconciliation timelines, cutting the time and resources spent managing multiple providers.
The acquisition is backed by Stitch’s strong capital base. In April 2025, the company raised $55 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to $107 million. The financing is helping Stitch scale its full-stack payments infrastructure and expand its product suite across Africa.
Having emerged from stealth just four years ago in 2021, Stitch is fast establishing itself as a serious infrastructure player in Africa’s fragmented payments market. With the acquisition of Efficacy, the startup now offers a unified platform that supports online, in-person, and card payment solutions for businesses ranging from telcos to large retailers.
