South African earned wage access platform, Paymenow, has secured a ZAR250m ($14m) debt facility through Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) to help finance its expansion plans. The platform, which allows workers to access a percentage of their earned wages before their payroll cycle ends, aims to offer affordable real-time cash access and build savings while improving financial wellness. Paymenow currently has over 200,000 employees on its books across industries including retail, mining, cleaning, security and facilities management and projects to double that figure in the next year.
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RMB’s investment follows Paymenow’s recent growth in Namibia and Zambia and its plans to expand to other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Lesotho. The company aims to offer a financial wellness platform to ease the burden inflicted by payday and micro lenders, which affect millions of people in South Africa, with 10 million active credit customers behind on their payments. Paymenow’s platform provides access to liquidity without compromising financial health.
Deon Nobrega, co-founder of Paymenow, said the ZAR250m ($14m) debt facility is “a gratifying acknowledgement of the strength of our model and a key enabler of our future growth”. RMB’s shareholding in the DNI Group also makes it an indirect shareholder in Paymenow.
