As South African specialised payment solutions firm Payment24 continues to expand into new regions, while adding products and solutions to its portfolio, it is also branching out into other industries that would benefit from its unique transaction, switching and acquiring solutions.

The Cape Town-based company, which was founded in 2013, developing payment platforms for fuel companies, has evolved significantly from its early years, expanding into different industries to provide specialised payment solutions worldwide.

“Our diversification and the focus as we evolved as a company have adjusted to be a bit wider. We have grown drastically to now do acquiring solutions, switching solutions and loyalty solutions, [besides others], and we have built up this product stack quite massively to target multiple industry verticals,” Payment24 joint-CEO Shadab Rahil told Engineering News & Mining Weekly during an interview.

Since establishment, the company has focused on sectors including fuel, loyalty and rewards, transporters and fleet owners and car rental and auto dealerships, as well as retail and convenience and banking.

In 2020, Payment24 secured funding of an undisclosed amount from banking group Standard Bank for a 40% stake, which has enabled the startup to grow into new markets and industries.

“The scale of the company is different and we have opened up quite a bit into different industries, including hospitality, which was not something we were known for previously,” he continued, pointing out that any type of retailer or chain needs transaction, switching and acquiring solutions.

Payment24 joint-CEO Nolan Daniel added that the company continues to invest in research and development (R&D) to keep its customers ahead of the curve.

This includes branching out into the electric vehicle (EV) space.

“We are busy with an EV project in South Africa now,” he said, noting that, while the EV industry in South Africa has not yet gained the significant traction seen internationally, the company aims to undertake the R&D to develop with the technology and be prepared for when local customers are ready for the EV era.

According to the company, investing in EV charging infrastructure creates an opportunity to capture the retail market through early adoption and Payment24 is enabling a national network of 250 existing charge points all around the country, offering fully integrated EV solutions.

“We have tried to keep our customers ahead of the curve as much as possible,” Rahil added, pointing out that, with logistics, transport and fuel payments comprising a large component of the company, Payment24 has enabled EV on its platform, and is now one of the few platforms catering for both EV and internal combustion engine, or ICE, through a payment method in a single place.

“Our plan is to bring in hydrogen, compressed natural gas, liquid natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, which are other energy sources the vehicle will be consuming.

“To futureproof our customers, we are constantly evolving the platform around their ecosystems, which was our internal mandate when we started. So as their business and requirements evolve, our platform is keeping ahead to bring the future products to our customers . . . which have very specific ecosystem products that they work on.”

As those channels change, so does Payment24’s own platforms.

In line with this, the company’s ongoing product innovation is leading to the inclusion of artificial intelligence (AI), with the company working to become an AI-first firm within the next five to ten years.

“As a company, we love technology. We always see how technology can assist our customers. Like all companies out there, AI is huge for us, and in the next five to ten years we will be an AI-first company,” Daniel outlined to Engineering News & Mining Weekly.

Payment24 has integrated AI in select areas of the business for many years; however, there is a need to ensure that AI is leveraged as the core of every single portion of the business, providing customers with data solutions, better patterns and better insights, besides others.

Meanwhile, the company continues its significant expansion strategy, some of which was during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, to reach new markets in 17 countries across Africa, Europe, North America and Central America and become a global player across a host of industries.

Rahil said that good foothold has been gained in the US and Europe, despite delays by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, the company invested in Energy24, which is expected to enable at-scale growth in Europe.

“We are expecting some big things from that [investment], and much more rapidly than we had initially planned,” Rahil said.

He further added that the future is bright for Payment24, with its exponential growth over the last 24 to 36 months expected to continue over the next 12 months as more industries and new markets are added.