Yoco, a South African fintech company, built its business by helping small merchants accept card payments. Now it wants to help them run their entire businesses.
At its Yoco Next 2026 event in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the company unveiled more than 20 new products and features, including AI-powered business tools, loyalty programmes, savings products, accounting integrations, industry-specific software and a R250 million ($15.2 million) annual reduction in transaction fees for merchants.
Carl Wazen, Yoco’s co-founder and chief business officer, said the announcements reflect a broader shift in strategy. The startup now wants to provide the software that small businesses use to manage their operations. From inventory and accounting to bookings, customer loyalty, cash flow and reporting, many business owners rely on multiple disconnected tools. Yoco’s goal is to bring those functions into a single platform.
“Yoco started by giving independent businesses access to payments,” said Wazen. “Today, we are giving them the tools that used to belong only to big business, at a price built for small business.”
Founded in 2015, the fintech serves more than 200,000 merchants across South Africa and offers payment devices, software, business financing and commerce tools. But executives say payments are becoming just one part of the business. “We are no longer just a payments company,” chief executive officer (CEO) Carsten Höltkemeyer told TechCabal. “We are a company that helps business owners reduce administrative burdens and simplify everyday operations through modern technology and innovation.”
