Paymenow, a South African earned income access platform, received a ZAR250 million (US$14 million) loan facility through Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to support its expansion.
The Stellenbosch-based Paymenow was established in 2019 and signed up its first client in March of the following year.
Paymenow, a company founded by Deon Nobrega, Bryan Habana (a Rugby World Cup winner in charge of business development), Willem van Zyl (in charge of technology), Gerry Potgieter (in charge of software development), and founding investor Garth Mackintosh, seeks to lessen the burden caused by payday and microlenders by providing affordable, immediate access to cash.
The Paymenow debt facility, valued at ZAR250 million ($14 million), is a result of the company’s expansion in the retail, mining, security, cleaning, and facilities management sectors.
“There is tremendous demand for Paymenow’s services in South Africa, which has 25 million active credit customers, of whom more than 10 million are behind on their payments. As such, the population of people looking for access to liquidity is enormous, and our ability to provide this liquidity without compromising financial health is having a remarkable positive impact,” said Nobrega. “Access to funding, such as through the agreement with RMB, is a gratifying acknowledgment of the strength of our model, and a key enabler of our future growth.”
With rapid traction in both the commercial and governmental sectors, Paymenow is the first earned wage access provider that has launched in Namibia and Zambia. The company plans to scale across additional critical jurisdictions across Africa, including Lesotho, Ghana, and Kenya.
With growth forecasts set to double in the following year, the business presently provides services to over 200,000 employees.
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