South African fintech startup Stitch has announced the acquisition of Efficacy Payments, a licensed digital payments company, in a move that significantly strengthens its position in the country’s financial infrastructure landscape. This marks Stitch’s second strategic acquisition in six months, following its January 2025 purchase of ExiPay, and positions the company as one of the few fintechs in South Africa with full end-to-end card acquiring capabilities.
With this acquisition, Stitch becomes a Designated Clearing System Participant (DCSP)—a rare and highly regulated status that allows it to directly acquire card payments without relying on intermediary banks or third-party processors. This enables Stitch to process both online and in-person card transactions, offering merchants a streamlined, cost-effective, and fully integrated payments experience.
Founded in 2016, Efficacy Payments was the second fintech in South Africa to receive DCSP designation in 2021. Its integration into Stitch’s platform allows the combined entity to operate as a gateway, switch, and acquirer, eliminating friction points and failure risks typically introduced by legacy banking systems.
Junaid Dadan, President and Co-founder of Stitch, commented:
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, reconciliation 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.
The acquisition builds on Stitch’s broader strategy to create a unified, omnichannel payments infrastructure for African businesses. Earlier this year, Stitch rebranded ExiPay as Stitch In-Person Payments, marking its entry into the physical retail space. With the addition of Efficacy, Stitch now offers a comprehensive platform that supports online, in-store, and card-based payments, enabling seamless integration across all customer touchpoints—from point-of-sale to backend reconciliation.
Enterprise merchants stand to benefit significantly from the integration, with features such as:
- Improved conversion rates through optimized message routing
- Real-time transaction tracking
- Lower transaction fees due to fewer intermediaries
- Customizable reporting and reconciliation timelines
The acquisition is backed by Stitch’s strong financial position. In April 2025, the company raised $55 million in Series B funding, bringing its total capital raised to $107 million. This funding is being used to scale its full-stack payments infrastructure and expand its product suite across the African continent.
Having emerged from stealth in 2021, Stitch has rapidly evolved into a key infrastructure player in Africa’s fragmented payments ecosystem. With the acquisition of Efficacy Payments, the company is now uniquely positioned to offer end-to-end payment solutions for businesses ranging from telecoms and financial services to large-scale retailers.
