Less than three months after unlocking a R1-billion fundraising round, Cape Town-based fintech Stitch has announced its second major acquisition this year.
Stitch, which “emerged from stealth” in February 2021, has raised US$107-million in funding to date, including the recent series-B round of $55-million.
The business is now acquiring Efficacy Payments to allow it to offer card-acquiring services directly to merchants as a “designated clearing system participant” and provide more seamless and cost-effective transactions. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
“By bringing Efficacy into the Stitch group, Stitch has become one of the first fintechs in South Africa to offer direct card clearing both online and in-person,” Stitch said in a statement on Wednesday.
“As a designated clearing system participant, Stitch can offer a comprehensive, end-to-end card product with full control over the whole product lifecycle.”
Efficacy was launched in 2016, and it was designated as a clearing system participant in 2021, the second fintech in South Africa to achieve this, according to Stitch.
According to the company, the acquisition will mean it is a financial services gateway, switch and acquirer in one, so merchants can work with one provider than can perform the end-to-end acquiring service across technical, compliance financial and operational requirements.
Omnichannel
Because Stitch is directly connected to Visa and Mastercard, there is no dependency on an intermediary acquiring bank or switch, removing potential failure points from the transactions, it said.
“This is the second major acquisition for Stitch, following its acquisition of ExiPay in January 2025, which allowed the firm to expand from online payments into the in-person payments space,” Stitch said.
Read: Cape Town fintech Stitch unlocks R1-billion funding round
“Today Stitch offers a true omnichannel payment platform, allowing multi-lane retailers, telcommunications operators and other omnichannel businesses to modernise their in-store and online payment experiences.” — (c) 2025 NewsCentral Media
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