Ecentric
Ecentric Payment Systems is a South African payment service provider operating an omni-channel card processing platform across in-person, online, and self-service channels. It serves major South African retailers, banks, PSPs, and POS vendors through certified integrations, APIs, and reconciliation tools.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersCape Town, South Africa
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Ecentric does
Ecentric Payment Systems (Pty) Ltd is a South African payment service provider founded in 2001, headquartered in Claremont, Cape Town, with an additional office in Centurion, Gauteng. The company operates an omni-channel payment switching and processing platform that accepts card-present, online, mobile, and self-service payments and runs continuous reconciliation across all of them. Its infrastructure connects more than 90,000 tills, has switched and reconciled over 12 billion transactions, and has processed more than R10 trillion in cumulative payment volume at near 100% uptime, serving South Africa's largest retail groups (including TFG, Pepkor, Mr Price, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Game Stores, and Dis-Chem), alongside banks, PSPs, POS vendors, and merchants.
The platform is organised around three solution lines — In Person Payments (card-present till processing), Online Payments (gateway with hosted payment page and embedded lightbox), and Consumer Services (1Voucher, Gift Cards, Money Badger crypto-to-pay, PayFlex BNPL, VAS, and a digital wallet powered by Block Markets Africa) — underpinned by ReconcileAssured automated reconciliation with General Ledger integration, a suite of APIs (EPS Connect, App2App, eSocket) and an Enterprise API, certified POS integrations with 14+ POS/ERP systems, and POSPay, a semi-white-label till-vendor channel launched in 2025/2026. Ecentric is PCI-DSS, PCI P2Pe, and EMV L3 certified, POPIA and FICA compliant, and a member of the Payments Association of South Africa and EMVCo's partner programme. Approximately 700 million VAS transactions are processed through local retailers each month.
Ecentric generates revenue primarily from transaction fees on card processing and on volume-add services (airtime, data, bills, prepaid electricity, wallet top-ups), supplemented by device certification, POS integration, and managed reconciliation service revenue. Pricing is quote-based on multi-year enterprise contracts; the go-to-market is direct enterprise sales augmented by API/developer self-service integration and an emerging channel-partner model through POS vendors and acquiring banks. The company is privately held with 101–250 employees, no disclosed parent company, and one disclosed institutional capital event — a 2019 investment from Financial Software & Systems.
Ecentric firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ecentric
- Legal name
- Ecentric Payment Systems (Pty) Ltd
- Website
- https://ecentric.co.za
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Ecentric Payment Systems is a South African payment service provider operating an omni-channel card processing platform across in-person, online, and self-service channels. It serves major South African retailers, banks, PSPs, and POS vendors through certified integrations, APIs, and reconciliation tools.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ecentric industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Processing
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Sales Financing (52222)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms) (FSAMADAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Payments Operations (ACH/Wire/RTGS, SWIFT, SEPA, Checks) (FSABALAB), In-Store POS Installment Financing (FSAKAFAD)
Keywords
Where Ecentric is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cape Town
- HQ country
- South Africa
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices2 records
Markets served
Ecentric business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Payment Processing Services: Ecentric charges transaction fees for processing payments across in-person (card-present), online, mobile, and self-service channels. Revenue is volume-based, scaling with the number and value of transactions processed through their infrastructure.
- Value Added Services (VAS): Revenue from VAS including airtime and data, bill payments, prepaid electricity, water, digital content, money transfers, and wallet top-ups. Around 700 million VAS transactions are processed through local retailers monthly, representing a high-volume, low-margin revenue stream.
- POS Device and Integration Services: Revenue from POS device certifications (Android-based terminals including Sunmi, PAX, Verifone, Ingenico), POS integrations with systems like Syspro, MS Dynamics, Oracle, and integration APIs.
- Reconciliation and Back-Office Services: Revenue from specialized reconciliation solutions including automated reconciliation, 2-way matching, GL integration, and back-office operations services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Multi-year contract | Enterprise/Corporate |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Ecentric product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ecentric Payment Systems (Pty) Ltd provides payment processing, gateway services, POS terminal management, and reconciliation solutions to banks, payment service providers, POS vendors, and major South African retailers. The company also offers consumer-facing payment products including 1Voucher, gift cards, Money Badger, PayFlex, value-added services, and a digital eWallet.
Product overview
Ecentric Payment Systems is a South African payment service provider offering an omni-channel payment platform with multiple integrated modules. The core offerings include In Person Payments for physical retail till processing, Online Payments for e-commerce transactions, and Consumer Services encompassing 1Voucher, Gift Cards, Money Badger, PayFlex, VAS, and Digital eWallet. Supporting infrastructure includes POSPay (semi-white-label till vendor solution), Automated Reconciliation, and API integration tools (EPS Connect, App2App, eSocket). The platform processes over 90,000 tills, reconciling and switching 12 billion transactions, with R10 trillion processed. The company serves banks, PSPs, POS vendors, and retailers ranging from corporates to multinational retail groups.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- POSPay: Semi-white-label payment solution enabling South African till vendors to offer branded card payment services through single integration into Ecentric's certified acquiring and processing infrastructure.
- 1Voucher
- Gift Cards
- Money Badger
- PayFlex
- Digital eWallet
Products and services
- Payment Processing Platform
- Payment Gateway Services
- POS Terminal Management
- Reconciliation Services
- 1Voucher
- Gift Cards
- Money Badger
- PayFlex
- Digital eWallet
- Value-Added Services (VAS)
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 90,000 tills connected to platform
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Ecentric
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Ecentric technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
Feature10 records
Ecentric partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- Block Markets AfricacoreBlock Markets Africa powers Ecentric's Digital eWallet product, enabling Ecentric to offer a fully functional wallet product or integration into existing applications via an Enterprise API. This partnership provides the underlying wallet technology infrastructure for Ecentric's consumer-facing digital payment capabilities.
- VisacoreVISA & Mastercard scheme tokenisation services integrated into Ecentric's payment processing platform, providing secure card credential storage and payment authentication.
- MastercardcoreVISA & Mastercard scheme tokenisation services integrated into Ecentric's payment processing platform, providing secure card credential storage and payment authentication.
- EMVCocoreEMVco Partner status enabling participation in global payment standards and certifications for secure card payments. Ecentric holds EMV L3 certified devices.
- Payments Association of South Africa (PASA)strategicMember of the Payments Association of South Africa, the industry body representing payment service providers in South Africa.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ecentric competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- Flutterwave: Pan-African payment technology company offering payment processing across multiple African countries. Regional peer competing for cross-border African payment volume, particularly in the online and mobile space.
Broad incumbents
- Stripe: Global payment processor with expanding presence across online and in-person channels. Increasingly competing for the same African e-commerce and enterprise payment volume that Ecentric processes.
- Adyen: Global payment platform offering unified online, in-person, and platform payment processing for large enterprises. Competes with Ecentric for multinational retail clients operating in or expanding into Africa, with significantly larger scale and product breadth.
- Verifone: Global provider of POS terminals and integrated payment solutions for retailers. Ecentric integrates with Verifone terminals; competes for the same large retail merchant payment processing relationship.
Direct peers
- Yoco: South African payment solutions provider offering POS hardware, card acceptance, and online payment tools primarily targeting SMBs. Direct competitor in the in-person and online payment processing space.
- Ozow: South African instant EFT payment provider integrated into e-commerce checkouts. Direct competitor in the online payment acceptance space, particularly for merchants seeking low-cost alternative payment methods.
- Peach Payments: South African payment service provider offering omni-channel card processing, online payment gateway, and POS integrations. Direct competitor to Ecentric in the SA PSP market with comparable enterprise retail and e-commerce focus.
- PayU South Africa: Global fintech with significant South African operations offering online payment gateway, POS acquiring, and value-added services. Direct competitor targeting the same enterprise retail and e-commerce merchants as Ecentric.
- Network International (DPO): Pan-African payment service provider (formerly DPO Pay) offering card acquiring, payment gateway, and processing services across multiple African markets. Direct competitor with broader geographic reach than Ecentric.
Emerging players
- M-Pesa (Vodacom): Dominant mobile money and digital payments platform in South Africa and across Africa. Adjacent competitor in the broader digital payments ecosystem, particularly relevant for Ecentric's VAS and eWallet ambitions.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Ecentric social profiles
Digital presenceEcentric compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Ecentric financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ecentric leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Ecentric funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ecentric M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ecentric
What does Ecentric do?
Ecentric Payment Systems (Pty) Ltd provides payment processing, gateway services, POS terminal management, and reconciliation solutions to banks, payment service providers, POS vendors, and major South African retailers. The company also offers consumer-facing payment products including 1Voucher, gift cards, Money Badger, PayFlex, value-added services, and a digital eWallet.
Is Ecentric a public or private company?
Ecentric is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Ecentric founded?
Ecentric was founded in 2001. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Ecentric based?
Ecentric is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Africa region.
How does Ecentric make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Payment Processing Services are the primary driver. The others are value Added Services (VAS), POS Device and Integration Services and reconciliation and Back-Office Services.
Who are Ecentric's main competitors?
Flutterwave is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Stripe, Adyen and Verifone. Direct peers are Yoco, Ozow, Peach Payments, PayU South Africa and Network International (DPO). M-Pesa (Vodacom) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Ecentric have an API?
Yes. Ecentric offers flexible APIs including EPS Connect, App2App, and eSocket for easy integration across platforms. These APIs enable customized payment flows and integration with various POS and e-commerce platforms. The company also provides a Hosted Payment Page and/or Embedded Lightbox for quick setup and management. Developer documentation is at ecentric.readme.io.
What industry is Ecentric in?
Ecentric's product category is Payment Processing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMADAD, Integrated POS Payments (ISVs & Vertical POS Platforms), with a secondary code of FSABALAB, Payments Operations (ACH/Wire/RTGS, SWIFT, SEPA, Checks). Its NAICS code is 52232.