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Yoco
Yoco provides payment infrastructure and business funding to 200,000+ South African SMEs, using transaction data to underwrite credit.
Yoco
Yoco operates as a payments infrastructure and software provider focused on South Africa's underserved small and medium enterprise segment. The firm's disclosed base exceeds 200,000 merchants using its point-of-sale terminals — including the Yoco Counter all-in-one system and the handheld Yoco Khumo 2 — to accept card and digital-wallet payments. This footprint creates a transaction-data asset that Yoco uses to underwrite its own lending, sidestepping a banking sector that has historically struggled to assess micro-enterprise credit risk. The firm combines payment-acceptance hardware with software for inventory management, sales tracking, and digital invoicing, then layers on a working-capital funding line called business funding. The model resembles Square's US playbook but is adapted for a market where card penetration is lower and cash remains dominant in informal trade. Yoco's product suite supports sectors from food and beverage to health and beauty, with merchant testimonials highlighting time savings on reconciliation and order management. Team size, headquarters city within South Africa, and total capital deployed or raised have not been publicly confirmed. The firm has not disclosed a LinkedIn presence, a founding date, or named principals in available primary sources. No adjacent vehicles such as a philanthropic foundation or separate credit fund have been identified. Yoco's structural differentiator is that it is not first a payment network or a bank — it is a data company built atop point-of-sale flows in a developing economy. The hardware captures real operational income streams that become the credit score for a merchant advance, which traditional underwriters cannot replicate without similar on-the-ground transactional visibility.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
—
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Africa
Country
South Africa
City
—
Corporate office
—
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Yoco underwrite its business funding product?
Yoco uses transaction data captured through its own point-of-sale terminals to assess a merchant's cash flow and creditworthiness. This allows it to extend working-capital advances that traditional South African banks typically cannot underwrite for micro and small enterprises. The model turns payment processing into a proprietary credit-assessment engine.
Is Yoco a bank or a fintech platform?
Yoco is a fintech platform that bundles payment acceptance, point-of-sale software, and business funding into a single account. It is not a licensed deposit-taking bank, but it does provide credit through a merchant cash-advance mechanism funded on its own balance sheet or through credit partners. Its regulatory status as a non-bank lender in South Africa shapes its cost of capital and product terms.
What hardware does a merchant need to use Yoco?
Merchants can use Yoco's proprietary terminals — the countertop Yoco Counter and the mobile Yoco Khumo 2 — or enable Tap to Pay on iPhone to accept contactless payments without additional hardware. The Counter system integrates payment processing with an Android-based point-of-sale interface for sales tracking and reporting. The hardware suite is designed for businesses ranging from market stalls to sit-down restaurants.
What industries does Yoco serve?
Yoco markets its platform across food and beverage, retail, health and beauty, and professional services. Its product pages explicitly name restaurants, salons, and service businesses as core verticals, and merchant testimonials on the site reference smoothie bars, coffee shops, and craft stores. The firm does not publicly exclude any legal industry.
Who are Yoco's main competitors in South Africa?
Yoco competes against incumbent bank-owned acquiring services from Standard Bank, Absa, and First National Bank, as well as fellow fintechs like iKhokha and TymePOS. The competitive edge Yoco asserts is an all-in-one hardware-plus-software-plus-funding value proposition that legacy acquirers do not offer to micro-merchants.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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