Kenya’s Direct Pay Online acquires South Africa’s PayThru, a cloud-based payment gateway

Kenya’s Direct Pay Online (DPO) Group, through its South African subsidiary DPO SA has acquired PayThru South Africa, a cloud-based payment gateway that specializes in the integration of mobile devices as it moves to strengthen its positioning in South Africa and establish itself as the leading payment service provider on the continent.

PayThru was established in South Africa in 2010 and is a subsidiary of PayThru UK and serves clients such as online retailers TakeALot.com, Superbalist.com and online food delivery service Mr. Delivery, will all be served by the DPO group.

According to Direct Pay Online Group CEO, Eran Feinstein: “We are excited to welcome PayThru South Africa to the DPO family. They bring an impressive track record in the online payments sector, especially in the mobile arena. With this acquisition, we are fully aligned in our ambition to become the leading end-to-end online payment service provider in Africa by deploying world-class payment infrastructure and technology, and expanding our footprint on the continent.”

This is the second South Africa firm Direct Pay Online Group has acquired and the third in Southern Africa after its takeover of PayGate and Botswana and Namibia-focused Virtual Card Services. The combination of PayGate, VCS and PayThru under the Direct Pay Online Group provides a single contact point for merchants looking to accept payments across the continent.

Direct Pay Online was established in Kenya in 2006 and has since expanded to Uganda, Rwanda, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. The Group processes merchant payments, mobile money and e-wallets, and holds PCI DSS Level 1 Certification, the highest security certification in the global payment cards industry.

Offer Gat, the DPO Group Chairman said: “Investing in market leading businesses in the online payments space is a core pillar of our growth strategy. Our vision is to provide one payment solution across Africa and this acquisition brings us one step closer to that goal.”