How Katlego Maphai Transformed Small-Business Payments in South Africa

In Summary  

• Katlego Maphai co-founded Yoco to simplify card acceptance for small businesses traditionally excluded from formal payment systems.  
• Under his leadership, Yoco focused on building an affordable, accessible payment infrastructure tailored to SME realities.  
• Yoco has expanded beyond South Africa, extending its SME payments platform into additional markets.

Deep Dive!!

Lagos, Nigeria, Friday, January 23, 2026 - For decades, South Africa’s payments ecosystem was shaped primarily around large retailers and established enterprises. Small and medium-sized businesses, particularly informal and early-stage merchants, faced high costs, complex onboarding processes, and limited access to card payment infrastructure. As consumer payment preferences shifted toward cards and digital transactions, many of these businesses were left unable to participate fully in the formal economy.

Katlego Maphai entered this landscape with a focus on narrowing that gap. As a co-founder of Yoco, he helped build a payments company designed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises, prioritising affordability, simplicity, and ease of access. Rather than adapting existing enterprise-focused payment models, Yoco was structured around the operational constraints and cash-flow realities of small merchants.

Operating within the SME payments sector, Yoco provides tools that enable businesses to accept card payments and manage transactions digitally. Maphai’s role as co-founder and chief executive positioned him at the centre of the company’s strategic direction, including decisions around product design, pricing structures, and merchant onboarding.

This article examines Katlego Maphai’s journey in building Yoco, beginning with his early life, education, and professional experience. It explores the motivations that led to Yoco’s creation, the specific problems the company set out to solve, and the milestones it has achieved based strictly on publicly available data. The analysis concludes with lessons drawn from Maphai’s experience that are relevant to entrepreneurs building financial infrastructure for small businesses across African markets.

Early Life, Education, and Experience

Publicly available information on Katlego Maphai’s early life is limited. There are no detailed, officially documented accounts outlining his childhood background, place of birth, or family history. As such, no verified public data exists on his early upbringing beyond what has been selectively referenced in professional and media contexts.

What is documented is Maphai’s academic and professional development leading up to Yoco’s founding. He is a South African entrepreneur with a background in finance, technology, and business operations, developed through a combination of formal education and early career experience. However, specific details regarding his undergraduate or postgraduate education, including institutions attended and degrees earned, are not comprehensively disclosed in public company materials or official biographies.

Before co-founding Yoco, Maphai built professional experience across financial services and technology-related roles. He worked in environments that exposed him to payment infrastructure, digital platforms, and the operational challenges faced by businesses interacting with formal financial systems. These roles contributed to his understanding of how traditional payment models often excluded small and informal merchants due to cost structures, compliance complexity, and rigid product design.

Before Yoco, Maphai was also involved in entrepreneurial and advisory work within South Africa’s growing technology ecosystem. This exposure placed him in close contact with early-stage businesses, small retailers, and service providers, giving him first-hand visibility into the everyday transactional frictions faced by SMEs. While detailed timelines and employer breakdowns are not fully available in the public domain, this period is consistently referenced by Maphai as formative in shaping his perspective on financial inclusion and merchant access.

By the time Yoco was founded, Maphai had accumulated a combination of operational insight, financial literacy, and exposure to technology-driven business models. These experiences formed the practical foundation for his role as a co-founder and later chief executive, influencing how Yoco was structured around simplicity, affordability, and usability for small businesses.

Inspiration to Start Yoco

Katlego Maphai co-founded Yoco in response to the structural barriers faced by South Africa’s small and medium-sized businesses in accessing digital payments. In multiple interviews and public statements, Maphai has explained that he observed a significant portion of micro and small merchants operating entirely in cash, unable to accept card payments due to high costs, complex onboarding, and limited support from banks and traditional payment processors.

Before Yoco, Maphai had firsthand exposure to these challenges while working with SMEs and within South Africa’s technology ecosystem. He noted that many businesses with growth potential were constrained not by demand but by the lack of accessible financial infrastructure. Traditional point-of-sale solutions were designed for larger enterprises, creating a gap that prevented smaller merchants from participating in the digital economy.

Yoco was conceived to address this gap by providing an integrated, affordable, and easy-to-use card payment solution tailored specifically to small businesses. Maphai has highlighted that the company’s focus was not on competing with enterprise-focused providers but on enabling financial inclusion for merchants who had been underserved. This included offering transparent pricing, rapid onboarding, and mobile-enabled point-of-sale devices that could operate in environments with inconsistent internet connectivity.

In public discussions, Maphai also emphasised the broader impact of Yoco’s mission: beyond accepting card payments, the platform aimed to support small businesses with transaction tracking, analytics, and access to additional financial tools over time. The inspiration behind Yoco was therefore rooted in addressing practical, systemic problems in the SME payments sector rather than pursuing conventional entrepreneurial prestige or profit alone.

What Problems Yoco Solves

Small and medium-sized enterprises in South Africa have historically faced significant obstacles in accessing digital payment solutions. High costs, complex onboarding, and infrastructure limitations prevented many merchants from participating fully in the formal economy. These barriers restricted business growth, limited financial record-keeping, and excluded a large segment of the SME sector from broader digital financial services. Yoco was created to address these structural and operational challenges, providing tools tailored to the realities of small business owners.

1. High Costs of Traditional Payment Systems: Conventional point-of-sale solutions were expensive for small merchants, often requiring significant upfront investment and ongoing fees. Yoco introduced affordable devices and transparent pricing to lower these barriers.
2. Complex Onboarding and Setup Processes: Many SMEs could not navigate the bureaucratic requirements of banks and established payment providers. Yoco simplified onboarding, allowing merchants to start accepting card payments quickly with minimal documentation.
3. Limited Access to Digital Payment Infrastructure: Small businesses often lacked the technical infrastructure needed to process card transactions reliably. Yoco provided mobile-enabled point-of-sale devices that worked even in low-connectivity environments.
4. Cash-Dependent Business Operations: A large portion of the SME sector operated entirely in cash, restricting growth and limiting access to financial services. Yoco enabled merchants to accept cards and electronic payments, gradually integrating them into the digital economy.
5. Lack of Financial Insights and Reporting Tools: Merchants often struggled to track sales, manage inventory, or monitor cash flow. Yoco’s platform included transaction tracking and analytics tools to support better financial management.
6. Exclusion from Broader Financial Services: Without digital transaction records, small businesses faced challenges accessing credit or other banking products. By formalizing payment flows, Yoco allowed merchants to build transaction histories that could support future financial access.
7. Operational Challenges in Serving Informal Markets: Many SMEs operate in informal or underbanked sectors where traditional solutions were impractical. Yoco’s solution was designed for flexibility, reliability, and usability across diverse business environments.

Through these solutions, Yoco addressed both the practical and systemic challenges that limited small business growth in South Africa. By combining affordability, accessibility, and operational simplicity, the company created a platform that not only allowed merchants to accept payments but also supported the broader formalization of the SME sector.

Milestones Achieved to Date

Yoco was founded in 2014 by Katlego Maphai, Carl Wazen, Bradley Wattrus, and Lungisa Matshoba with the goal of providing small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa with accessible digital payment tools. The company’s first product, a card reader that connected with smartphones and tablets, was launched later that year, enabling merchants to accept card payments directly through a mobile device. At launch, Yoco’s customer base numbered approximately 500 merchants, marking its initial entry into a market where most small businesses previously relied on cash.

By 2016, Yoco expanded its merchant base significantly, growing to 5,000 merchants as it built awareness and adoption among South African SMEs. This expansion reflected strong early market demand for simpler, lower-barrier card acceptance solutions that did not require long-term contracts or expensive hardware. Yoco continued to scale its team and operations during this period.

In 2018, Yoco secured Series B funding of US$16 million (approximately R245 million), led by Partech and supported by investors including Orange Digital Ventures, FMO, and existing backers. At that time, the company was processing around R3.5 billion annually in card sales and had a growing base of roughly 27,000 merchants, with new clients being added at a rate of approximately 1,500 per month. This funding round brought total investment to approximately US$23 million (R354 million) and was aimed at expanding the company’s merchant network and product development capabilities.

In September 2019, Yoco announced that its customer base had surpassed 50,000 merchants. Alongside this milestone, Yoco launched the Yoco Go card machine, a new hardware offering targeting previously underserved small businesses with a more affordable and accessible payments device. The company also reported processing an estimated R6 billion in annualised card transaction volume, demonstrating increased usage of its platform by South African merchants.

By 2021, Yoco had significantly scaled its funding profile with a Series C round of US$83 million (approximately R1.2 billion), the largest single investment raised by a South African payments company at that time. This Series C funding brought the total capital raised to US$107 million and was intended to accelerate product development and support expansion beyond South Africa into broader African and Middle Eastern markets. As of this funding round, Yoco reported serving over 150,000 small businesses across South Africa and processing more than US$1 billion in annual card payments.

Throughout 2020 and early 2021, Yoco grew its merchant base and transaction volumes amid changing market conditions, with the platform achieving over R1 billion in monthly transaction volume at certain points, signalling strong adoption of digital payments among SMEs. This growth was supported by Yoco’s expansion into online payment tools and capital advance services.

By 2021–2023, Yoco continued expanding its suite of services, including Yoco Capital, which had disbursed over R1.9 billion in cash advances to merchants, and enhancements to its mobile app, such as product catalogues, staff management features, and online payment integration.

In 2024–2025, Yoco marked its 10th anniversary and reported that it was used by over 200,000 small businesses across South Africa, reinforcing its position as a leading SME payments platform. In July 2025, Yoco was recognised on CNBC’s Global Top Fintech Companies list for the third consecutive year, reflecting its influence among technology-driven financial service providers.

As of early 2026, publicly available information indicates that Yoco continues to serve a large base of small businesses, with reported merchant numbers and transaction volumes positioning the company as a key player in South Africa’s SME digital payments space. However, no publicly available official disclosures detailing exact merchant counts, revenues, or audited financial performance for 2026 were available at the time of writing.

Lessons for Other Entrepreneurs

Building a successful payments platform for small businesses in South Africa required more than technology; it demanded careful attention to operational, financial, and market realities. Katlego Maphai’s experience with Yoco offers practical lessons for entrepreneurs seeking to create scalable, impactful ventures in challenging markets. These lessons highlight the importance of solving real problems, maintaining disciplined execution, and adapting to the needs of underserved customers.

1. Focus on Real, Structural Problems: Maphai has emphasised that Yoco succeeded because it addressed a tangible gap in SME payments, rather than offering a “nice-to-have” service. Entrepreneurs should prioritise solutions that tackle systemic challenges affecting their target market.
2. Start Small, Scale Strategically: Rather than immediately targeting large numbers, Yoco began with a manageable merchant base, learning from early adopters before expanding nationwide. Maphai has noted that this approach allowed the company to refine product offerings and operational processes before scaling.
3. Design Around the Customer’s Context: Yoco’s products were built to work in low-connectivity environments and for cash-based merchants. Maphai frequently underscores that understanding the practical realities of customers is crucial for adoption and retention.
4. Balance Growth with Operational Sustainability: Rapid growth is valuable only if operational systems can support it. Maphai has highlighted the need for processes, logistics, and support structures that can scale alongside business expansion.
5. Leverage Data to Guide Decisions: Yoco’s analytics tools helped merchants track sales and make informed decisions, and internally, Maphai relied on transaction data to identify product improvements and market opportunities. He advocates for evidence-based decision-making over intuition alone.
6. Secure Strategic Partnerships: Funding and partnerships played a key role in Yoco’s growth, including backing from Partech, FMO, and Orange Digital Ventures. Maphai advises founders to cultivate relationships with investors and partners who can provide both capital and operational guidance.
7. Persistence in Emerging Markets: Operating in South Africa’s SME sector involves navigating regulatory, infrastructure, and market constraints. Maphai consistently stresses patience and resilience as essential traits for founders operating in emerging markets.

By examining these lessons, entrepreneurs can understand how disciplined focus, contextual awareness, and problem-driven innovation contributed to Yoco’s success. Maphai’s approach demonstrates that addressing underserved markets with practical, scalable solutions can create lasting impact while building a commercially viable business.

Yoco’s journey under Katlego Maphai demonstrates how a founder-led focus on real-world problems, disciplined scaling, and customer-centered innovation can transform an underserved market. From serving a few hundred merchants at launch to processing billions in annual transactions and supporting hundreds of thousands of SMEs, the company has shown that structural gaps in payments can be turned into growth opportunities. Looking forward, Yoco is well-positioned to deepen its footprint beyond South Africa, expand value-added financial services for SMEs, and continue formalising informal businesses across the continent. The trajectory suggests that platforms designed around operational realities rather than assumptions are likely to sustain growth and influence in emerging markets over the next decade.