“Can pay-by-bank become the dominant alternative payment rail in account-rich, card-underpenetrated emerging markets like South Africa?”
Founded in 2014 as i-Pay, Ozow built an instant EFT payment gateway designed for South Africa's bank-heavy, card-light retail environment. Rebranded to Ozow in 2019 and scaled rapidly during COVID-19 as e-commerce demand surged. The 2021 Tencent-led Series B accelerated expansion beyond bank-rail collections into a multi-product PSP — adding card acquiring, Apple/Google Pay, PayShap Request, Payouts, crypto payments and a consumer wallet (Ozow.ME). The strategic bet is that South Africa's account-rich, card-underpenetrated market favours pay-by-bank rails over card rails as the dominant alternative payment method.
Ozow processes payments through Ozow Pay by Bank (self-operated), Ozow Card Payments (self-operated), Capitec Pay (bank partnership), Nedbank Direct EFT (bank partnership), Absa Pay (bank partnership), PayShap Request (self-operated), Ozow Payouts (self-operated), Ozow Refunds (self-operated) and 5 others.
Ozow connects to bank accounts through Ozow Pay by Bank (self-operated), Capitec Pay, Nedbank Direct EFT and Absa Pay.
Ozow integrates with Xero.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 4 layers in Ozow's stack: Payments / PSP (Ozow Pay by Bank (self-operated), Ozow Card Payments (self-operated), Capitec Pay (bank partnership), Nedbank Direct EFT (bank partnership) and 9 others); Lending (Buy Now, Pay Later (4.99% + R4.00 per transaction)); Open banking (Ozow Pay by Bank (self-operated), Capitec Pay, Nedbank Direct EFT and Absa Pay); Accounting (Xero).
Ozow was founded by Thomas Pays, Mitchan Adams and Lyle Eckstein and is founded in 2014, headquartered in Johannesburg & Cape Town, South Africa.
Ozow has raised ~$48M+ disclosed in total (latest round: Series B, 2021).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Ozow and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.