African payment service provider Direct Pay Online (DPO) has acquired a sixth South African payments company in the past 16 months. In a statement made earlier this week, DPO chairman Offer Gat said the company had acquired Setcom for an undisclosed amount.
Setcom, which began its operations in 1999, is an SID Instant electronic funds transfer (EFT) solution operator in South Africa. SID enables local merchants to collect instant EFT payments via Web sites, e-mail or invoices, and has become one of the most popular online payment methods in the country. Gat added that the deal will complement DPO's comprehensive suite of payment solutions across the continent, which currently includes processing for all major cards, mobile money and e-wallets.
"We are excited to add South Africa's leading Instant EFT solution to our suite of products, and look forward to working with Setcom's innovative team, including the founder and instant EFT innovator David Liu. Setcom has been a pioneer in the payments industry for many years, and we have no doubt that they will continue to bring new and innovative solutions to our customers and merchants across Africa," said Gat.
DPO Group CEO Eran Feinstein adds that the company plans to include SID to all current and future merchants across its markets as a payment option to their customers.
Last year, DPO began its Southern Africa takeover by merging with PayGate, an SA-based online payments processor. In March 2017, the group expanded into Botswana and Namibia with the acquisition of Virtual Card Services (VCS) Group, a credit, debit and smart card processing system for electronic payments which was made up of VCS Namibia and VCS Botswana. The group went to conclude the group acquisition by buying VCS South Africa in August 2017.
The group also acquired PayThru - a subsidiary of PayThru UK - this year.
Liu says the acquisition will help the company achieve its goals. "Our goal has always been to help people buy and sell anywhere and at any time, a vision shared by the DPO Group. By joining together, we have no doubt that we will achieve this goal and create the leading payments platform in Africa."
Earlier this month, DPO secured a R70 million investment from UK-based private equity fund Apis Partners. At the time of the announcement, the company said the investment would be used to fuel its strategic plan which includes growth across Africa, strengthening the group's position through a series of mergers and acquisitions, and integrating the systems of all companies under the group.
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