Why a South African fintech chose the UK before the rest of Africa

Float, a South African payments startup, is taking a card-linked instalment product developed at home to one of the world’s most sophisticated fintech markets, with the belief that innovation built for Africa can compete globally.

The Johannesburg-founded payments company, which enables shoppers to split purchases made on existing credit cards into interest-free instalments, has expanded into the United Kingdom (UK). Rather than viewing Britain as a market to learn from, Float believes the constraints of building in South Africa have given it a competitive advantage in one of the world’s most sophisticated fintech ecosystems.

The move reflects a broader shift in African fintech, in which homegrown payment infrastructure and business models are being exported to developed markets rather than simply imported from them.

“We think it’s a broader story than just Float,” founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Alex Forsyth-Thompson told TechCabal in an interview. “South Africa has built genuinely world-class payments and fintech capabilities. On a relative basis, South Africa is as, if not more, competitive than the UK.”

Founded in 2021, Float is a card-linked instalment platform that allows consumers to convert purchases made with their existing Visa or Mastercard credit cards into interest- and fee-free monthly instalments of up to 24 months. Unlike traditional buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers, Float does not issue new credit or require customers to apply for another loan. Instead, it works within the customer’s existing credit card facility, with merchants paying Float a fee for the service.

The company says it has signed more than 2,200 merchants in South Africa, including Samsung, iStore, The North Face, Cycle Lab and Tiger Wheel & Tyre. According to Forsyth-Thompson, Float has also raised more than R280 million ($17.1 million) in equity and debt funding from investors including Standard Bank, Invenfin, Platform Investment Partners and Saad Investment Holdings.

He said the company’s expansion into Britain is supported by the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme, an initiative designed to attract high-growth international companies to the country.

Float’s choice of Britain over another African market may appear surprising at a time when many fintechs are chasing continental expansion. Fintechs such as Moniepoint, Mukuru, and Yellow Card have steadily grown their footprints across Africa. That regional strategy has become the default playbook for many startups seeking scale, making Float’s decision to enter the UK before pursuing broader African expansion a notable departure from the norm. 

But Forsyth-Thompson argues that the company’s technology depends on markets with mature credit card ecosystems. “The UK has over 55 million credit cards in circulation, with over £70 billion ($93.8 million) in credit card balances that are incurring interest,” he said. “At the same time, there is roughly £250 billion ($335 million) sitting unused on these cards. These shoppers don’t need more credit; they need more time.”

Rather than competing directly with BNPL providers such as Klarna and Clearpay, Float believes it serves a different segment of the market. “Similar to African BNPL players, Klarna and Clearpay focus on issuing new loans to shoppers at checkout,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “We are serving people who already have a credit card with room on it, don’t want new loans, and don’t want another sign-up process and app download standing between them and checkout.”

The distinction also shapes Float’s regulatory positioning. As a company that operates on top of existing bank-issued credit facilities rather than extending new loans, it leverages credit assessments already completed by banks while allowing consumers to spread repayments over a longer period. Building the technology for multiple markets presented its own challenges.

While the platform already runs on global card networks, Float had to redesign its infrastructure to support multiple territories and payment processing environments.

“Our technology platform required significant build to enable us to run a multi-territory architecture and cater for processing payments in different markets,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “Now that this build is complete, we are able to expand markets and product sets with more speed.”

Perhaps the biggest lesson from Float’s expansion is that Africa’s difficult operating environment can become an advantage rather than a handicap. South Africa’s fintech market is crowded with banks, payment providers, and alternative payment methods competing for merchants, forcing startups to become efficient long before they consider international growth.

“Because we have such strong proof points with global brands in South Africa, as well as some great operational experience, merchant take-up in the UK has moved faster than in our early days in South Africa,” Forsyth-Thompson said. “Having built here in a more cost-conscious and capital-constrained environment turned out to be very good preparation for a mature, competitive market like the UK.”

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