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- Fintech company Direct Transact becomes first comprehensive Visa Ready partner in South Africa
- DT partnership with Visa powers end-to-end multi-currency card solution in CEMEA
Fintech enablement company Direct Transact has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Visa, which will open up an array of multi-currency opportunities for banks, fintechs and businesses in the Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region.
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Direct Transact (DT) has long been one of the largest Visa processors in the CEMEA region and will now become a Fintech Fastrack partner with the global payments giant, helping to power the digital issuance journey for customers as a Visa Ready Issuer Processor.
The multi-currency card solution at the centre of DT and Visa’s partnership is offered by Vivere, DT’s international sister company which specialises in multi-currency solutions.
Overall, the new partnership with Visa enables DT and Vivere to offer unrivalled integrations with Visa and its suite of world-class payment offerings to its client base of banks, brands and fintechs. The DT Group’s offering includes transaction processing from both a local and international perspective, card management services, full card issuing services inclusive of virtual and tokenised cards, full acquiring service, and core banking service covering more than 300 products.
“DT and Vivere are very proud to achieve this significant fintech partnership with Visa. We look forward to enabling several banks, brands and fintechs in the CEMEA region to adopt an unparalleled range of payment solutions,” says DT CEO Hennie Dreyer.
Neil Capazorio, Vivere Global Executive: Product Development, added that the partnership will open up an array of multi-currency solutions for all kinds of businesses in the CEMEA region. “Now businesses in the region will have more cross-border payment opportunities at their fingertips than ever before.”
As a long-time partner of Visa, DT was the original pioneer of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) in South Africa. Since its inception in 2002, through its outsourced banking products and services, DT has significantly democratised the banking and payments landscape in the country by enabling smaller banks to exist and compete with the big banks.
DT also enables retailers and other non-bank brands to offer embedded financial services to their customers. DT is a significant player in the payments space in SA and is also one of SA’s largest independent transaction processors. Currently, it facilitates more than R40 billion per month in transaction flows for South African clearing banks and handles about 10% of BankServAfrica’s monthly transaction flows.
The Visa Ready programme enables technology companies to build and launch payment solutions that meet Visa’s global standards on security, functionality and regulatory compliance.
Lineshree Moodley, Visa Country Head for South Africa, says this strategic partnership will expose South African fintechs to a full suite of Visa innovation solutions for fintechs, which will enhance their security standards when it comes to digital payment transactions.
“Visa Ready is designed to help partners ensure that their next generation of third-party payment solutions meet Visa’s security standards and specifications when integrated with Visa’s commercial payment solutions, such as enhanced data, virtual card integration, payables automation, payment controls and/or supplier match. And, upon successful integration and validation, partners are Visa Ready,” says Moodley.
