Fintech Yoco thinks South Africa’s small businesses need fewer apps

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.”

One of the innovations unveiled on Tuesday is Yoco AI, an artificial intelligence assistant expected to launch in the third quarter of 2026. Developed after the company acquired Dyner.ai, an AI-native operating system built to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in May, the tool will analyse transaction data, customer behaviour and business performance to help merchants make decisions about their businesses.

“If you can use data to better understand your revenue streams, customer behaviour and business performance, you’re in a stronger position to succeed,” Höltkemeyer said. “We want to give merchants access to the kinds of insights and capabilities that large corporations have traditionally enjoyed.”

The company’s CEO also unveiled the Yoco Connect, a hub that links accounting software, e-commerce platforms and inventory systems. It has launched dedicated software for restaurants, retailers, salons, and wellness businesses, each designed around the operational needs of its sector.

For Kelly Gibberd, founder of Cape Town-based fashion retailer Me&B, managing a growing business involves far more than processing payments. Gibberd’s company employs 55 people, supports 10 local factories, operates physical stores and runs an e-commerce platform. As a manufacturer and retailer, Gibberd said rising costs and increasing competition have made operations more complex.

“Manufacturing in South Africa comes with limitations; costs remain a huge challenge, and customers compare us to global fast-fashion giants like Shein and Temu,” she said.

Tools that simplify inventory management, customer engagement, reporting, and cash flow management could help businesses spend less time on administration and more time serving customers, Gibberd added. Alongside the new software products, Yoco said it has reduced transaction fees by up to 40% across parts of its network.

“It’s an investment in our customer base,” Höltkemeyer said. “Reducing our fees is an investment in small businesses, but we also believe the new products and services we are launching will create a much bigger opportunity for both Yoco and our merchants.”