FUNDING | South African Fintech, Float, Secures $11 Million from Standard Bank to Fund Growth

Float, a fintech startup based in South Africa, has secured a funding facility of $11 million from Standard Bank.

This funding will be utilized to facilitate the deployment of its card-linked installments platform, enabling the company to advance its growth initiatives over the next four years.

Introduced in November 2021, Float promotes responsible credit card usage while assisting merchants in increasing their sales. The startup’s proprietary technology enables shoppers to make purchases and divide their payments into up to 24 interest-free, fee-free monthly installments. This service leverages the available credit limit on their existing Visa or MasterCard credit cards.

The startup currently collaborates with nearly seven million pre-approved credit cards in South Africa, offering consumers a streamlined experience without requiring sign-up, registration, or credit checks. With the recent acquisition of the $11 million debt facility from Standard Bank, it anticipates a significant expansion of its well-established merchant network.

 Alex Forsyth Thompson, founder and CEO, Float*“Partnering with Standard Bank is a major milestone for our business and is a huge vote of confidence in our model, its value to the payments ecosystem, and the future prospects of our team and business. The support from Standard Bank comes at a time when we’re approaching an inflection point in our growth and will be pivotal in fueling our business as we scale,”* said Float founder and CEO, Alex Forsyth Thompson.

“South African credit consumers reward merchants that offer them flexible and responsible payment options with their business and their loyalty. Float gives them exactly that and the result has been a drastic increase in conversion rates and, based on a recent case study across hundreds of our merchants, a 134 per cent increase in our merchant’s average order values. We have new merchants and partnerships in the pipeline and this funding ensures that we can continue to scale for the next few years.”