Sasfin, South Africa’s leading business challenger bank has taken a strategic stake in fintech lender Payabill in a move expect to fuel SME growth in the country.
Launched in 2017, Payabill settles suppliers directly for its clients and allows clients to select their own extended payment terms. The 100% digital lending business, provides working capital and/or trade finance to small businesses. The collaboration between Sasfin and Payabill accelerates financing opportunities for customers.
According to Payabill CEO Eli Michal, “We are incredibly excited by the opportunity afforded to Payabill by having Sasfin as an equity and debt partner. Sasfin will provide access to new channels and much needed funding that enables us to support the growth of small business finance in South Africa.”
Currently, Payabill offers loans of up to R150 000 to businesses. The intention is that with the investment made by Sasfin, Payabill will be able to offer larger loans to SMEs in the near future.
Last year successfully launched its digital platform, B\\YOND, for SMEs and sees Payabill as strategic because it has made huge strides in giving businesses access to digital finance.
“We all know that boosting small business creates jobs and enables growth. Traditional lenders have neglected this segment of the market due to the high costs associated with on-boarding and assessing these customers, as well as managing their credit risk. It made no sense to us that a retail consumer could get multiple forms of credit, almost instantly via electronic channels, but small businesses could not. They were being neglected. With this in mind, we set out to build a completely paperless, digital solution to address this market’s unique requirements,” said Sasfin CEO Michael Sassoon.
With the deal, SMEs can now borrow digitally, via Payabill, and bank via B\\Yond from Sasfin – reducing admin and costs which often stifles small business growth. Both B\\Yond and Payabill are gaining meaningful traction in the SME market and there are a host of additional digital initiatives that we are working on to further help small businesses thrive.
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