Cape Town-based fintech Stitch has made a bold play into the in-person payments space, acquiring local player Exipay and rebranding the business as “Stitch In-Person Payments.” It’s more than just a new product launch — it’s a signpost of where Africa’s fintech industry is headed.

The acquisition — whose financial terms remain undisclosed — gives Stitch a direct foothold in the physical payment infrastructure that continues to dominate much of Africa’s retail and service economy. While Stitch built its name in open banking and seamless digital payments, the new solution bridges a long-standing gap in its product offering: on-the-ground transactions.

By integrating Exipay’s tech and operations, Stitch can now offer a full-stack payment experience to large enterprises — from online checkout to card machines in-store — positioning itself as a single, streamlined provider for all transaction needs.

Why In-Person Still Matters in Africa

In developed markets, in-person payments might be seen as legacy infrastructure. But in Africa, where informal retail, cash-heavy economies, and inconsistent digital access still shape consumer behavior, physical payments are not going away anytime soon.

Retail, hospitality, and services industries across the continent remain deeply reliant on point-of-sale (POS) systems and in-person interfaces. Yet many of these businesses face high transaction failure rates, fragmented payment systems, and limited data visibility.

By launching Stitch In-Person Payments, the company is betting that enterprise customers want fewer providers, better uptime, and stronger integrations. According to Stitch, its platform reduces intermediaries and connects directly with banks and payment networks — a move that could offer better reliability and support for high-volume businesses.

This is not just a technical pivot; it’s a strategic recalibration based on where the market is.

A Race to Own the Full Stack

The Stitch-Exipay deal also signals a broader trend of fintech consolidation across Africa. Startups are no longer content with vertical slices of the payments market — they’re moving toward end-to-end infrastructure plays.

We’ve seen this before. Paystack, Flutterwave, and Chipper Cash have all expanded into adjacent services — lending, POS devices, and cross-border payments — in a bid to lock in large enterprise clients and increase lifetime value.

With Stitch now playing in both digital and physical transaction spaces, it enters a new league of competitive relevance. Its clientele already includes MTN, MultiChoice, SnapScan, and Yoco. Adding a robust in-person layer to that portfolio could make Stitch the go-to payments partner for many of Africa’s top-tier businesses.

The Funding Flywheel in Motion

Stitch’s trajectory has been fueled by strong investor backing. A $25 million Series A round in late 2023 — led by Ribbit Capital and supported by PayPal Ventures, CRE Ventures, and Raba Partnership — followed earlier investments that brought its total raised capital to $46 million.

This firepower enables strategic acquisitions like Exipay and supports Stitch’s expansion into high-potential markets such as Nigeria, where it entered with a $2 million seed extension in 2021.

This access to capital allows Stitch to do something many African startups struggle with: move quickly, buy rather than build when necessary, and scale without breaking operational continuity.

What Comes Next?

While this move strengthens Stitch’s domestic footprint in South Africa, it’s the regional implications that bear watching. If the model proves successful, Stitch could easily replicate the in-person play across key markets like Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt — each with a strong enterprise base and high dependency on physical payment infrastructure.

More importantly, this expansion could support broader financial inclusion goals by normalizing digital payment systems in environments where they haven’t yet taken hold. Stitch’s technology, once limited to online and API-driven use cases, now has boots on the ground — quite literally.

The Big Picture

Stitch’s acquisition of Exipay reflects the next phase of fintech evolution in Africa: from pure tech play to infrastructure provider, from digital-only to omni-channel, and from startup to systems integrator.

It’s a reminder that while innovation matters, distribution, reliability, and market fit still win the day — especially in a continent where the customer journey often starts in-store, not online.

And for the wider ecosystem, it’s another sign that the race is on. The future of African fintech isn’t just about who builds the best app — it’s about who owns the rails, both digital and physical.