Cross Switch
Cross Switch is a Malta-headquartered payment orchestration platform providing a unified API (CS+ Platform) that connects merchants, payment partners, and PSPs to banks, mobile wallets, and local payment rails across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersBirkirkara, Malta
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cross Switch does
Cross Switch is a Malta-headquartered payment infrastructure company founded in 2022 that operates a unified payment orchestration platform, branded the CS+ Platform, connecting merchants, payment partners, and payment service providers (PSPs) to banks, mobile wallets, card schemes, and local payment rails across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and India. The platform exposes a single API that supports collections and disbursements, smart routing to optimize authorization rates and transaction costs, real-time transaction visibility and reporting, cross-border payment acceptance with FX handling, and white-label PSP enablement. Cross Switch holds PCI DSS v4.0.1 certification, a Third-Party Payment Processor (TPPP) license from the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), and Payment Facilitator status, with integrations spanning more than 60 payment methods across 14+ countries (including M-Pesa, MTN Money, Orange Money, Wave, PIX, SPEI, and major South African banks such as Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, FNB, and Capitec).
The company generates revenue primarily through transaction-based take rates on payment orchestration, supplemented by licensing/platform fees for white-label PSP enablement and FX margins on cross-border flows. Pricing is quote-based and tied to transaction volume, payment method mix, and geographic coverage. Cross Switch pursues a hybrid GTM combining API-first direct enterprise sales with a channel-partner model anchored by licensed local PSPs (Pesawise in Kenya, Paysoft in South Africa, NjiaPay in South Africa) that extend reach into markets where Cross Switch does not directly hold all required licenses, alongside an API self-serve motion for technical mid-market buyers. Customer segments include enterprise merchants (e.g., Glovo Kenya, Kuehne+Nagel, SeamlessHR), SMB and mid-market merchants across e-commerce, hospitality, food delivery, and logistics, NGOs and charities processing donations, and partner PSPs that license the platform infrastructure.
Operationally, Cross Switch runs regional hubs in Cape Town (Africa HQ), Birkirkara (Malta HQ), Luxembourg (European office), and Nairobi, and has appointed regional Heads of Business Development and Operations in East and Southern Africa during 2026. No institutional funding rounds, revenue figures, or valuation have been disclosed in the source data; the company appears privately held by founders and internal stakeholders.
Cross Switch firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cross Switch
- Legal name
- Cross Switch Malta Technologies Ltd
- Website
- https://cross-switch.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cross Switch is a Malta-headquartered payment orchestration platform providing a unified API (CS+ Platform) that connects merchants, payment partners, and PSPs to banks, mobile wallets, and local payment rails across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cross Switch industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Payment Orchestration Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cross-Border & Multi-Currency Gateway Services (FSAMACAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cross-Border & FX Payments Platforms (BPAMAFAK), Cross-border Payments, FX & Multi-currency Checkout (CRAFAJAF), Cross-border Payments & FX for E-commerce (CRAFALAF), Merchant Cross-Border Collections (Pay-ins) & Local Payment Methods (FSAGAKAD)
Keywords
Where Cross Switch is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birkirkara
- HQ country
- Malta
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Cross Switch business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Payment Orchestration Services: Cross Switch generates revenue through transaction processing fees and platform fees for orchestrating payments across multiple rails, methods, and currencies. The company connects merchants to payment infrastructure and earns fees per transaction processed through its platform.
- PSP White-Label Licensing: Revenue from enabling payment service providers and fintechs to launch branded PSP solutions using the CS+ Platform infrastructure, likely through licensing or platform access fees.
- Cross-Border FX Services: Revenue from foreign exchange handling with transparent conversion for international payment acceptance, including cross-border collections with local disbursements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Enterprise / Custom |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Cross Switch product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cross Switch provides the CS+ Platform, a single API-based payment orchestration layer that connects merchants, payment partners, and payment service providers to banks, mobile wallets, card schemes, and local payment rails across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and India. The platform supports collections, disbursements, cross-border payments with FX handling, smart routing to optimise transaction costs, and white-label PSP enablement. All capabilities are delivered through one unified API integration with built-in PCI-DSS compliance and AML controls.
Product overview
Cross Switch offers a unified payment orchestration platform called the CS+ Platform, which serves as the core infrastructure connecting merchants, payment partners, and payment service providers to banks, mobile wallets, and local payment rails across Africa, Latin America, and other emerging markets. The platform comprises the CS+ Orchestration Platform as the core product, supplemented by Local Payments modules (accepting card payments, mobile wallets, bank transfers, EFT, vouchers and cash-based methods) and Cross-Border Payments modules (with FX handling, international collections, and built-in compliance). Additional offerings include White-Label PSP Enablement for partners to launch their own branded payment solutions and specific payment method integrations like Absa Pay. All capabilities are delivered through a single API integration.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CS+ Platform The CS+ Platform is a unified API-based payment orchestration layer connecting merchants, payment partners, and payment service providers to banks, mobile wallets, card schemes, and local payment rails across Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and India. It provides smart routing for transaction cost optimisation, real-time transaction visibility and reporting, PCI-DSS 4.0.1 compliant data handling, FX handling with transparent conversion, built-in AML controls and compliance reporting, and white-label PSP enablement. Designed for enterprise merchants, payment partners, and PSPs operating across emerging markets.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduced transaction costs through smart routing optimization
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Cross Switch
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cross Switch technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration52 records
Feature6 records
Cross Switch partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- AbsacoreCross Switch has gone live with Absa Pay, enabling merchants on its platform to offer customers a secure, bank-authenticated payment option for online checkout in South Africa. The integration routes customers to Absa's secure environment for authentication before returning to complete transactions, providing strong customer authentication and real-time payment confirmation.
- NjiaPaycorePartnership with NjiaPay, a payment performance partner that unifies payment infrastructure for emerging businesses in Africa. Through collaboration, merchants can access Open Banking-enabled South African banks (Absa, Capitec, Nedbank), digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), and simplified EUR, GBP, USD transaction processing through a single connection. The NjiaPay Shopify app also provides direct access to Cross Switch capabilities.
- PaysoftcoreStrategic partnership with South African fintech leader Paysoft to bring faster, smarter, and more scalable payments to South African businesses. Paysoft leverages Cross Switch's CS+ platform for online transaction processing including card payments, EFTs, and Apple Pay with greater speed and reliability. Paysoft also powers settlement fund processing for merchants from Cross Switch collections. Partnership includes white-label flexibility for Paysoft partners.
- PesawisecorePartnership with licensed Kenyan payment service provider Pesawise to launch Cross Switch services in Kenya. Collaboration leverages Pesawise's regulatory standing and trusted reputation to deliver payment solutions to businesses, merchants, and charitable organizations throughout Kenya. Cross Switch brings scalable global payments infrastructure enabling acceptance across Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, mobile money and bank platforms.
- MastercardcorePayment scheme partner enabling card payment acceptance across Cross Switch markets including credit and debit card processing through Mastercard network.
- VisacorePayment scheme partner enabling card payment acceptance across Cross Switch markets including credit and debit card processing through Visa network.
- M-PesacoreMobile money integration partner enabling M-Pesa payments in Kenya and other African markets where M-Pesa is available.
- PIX (Brazil)coreReal-time payment rail integration in Brazil, supporting instant bank-to-bank transfers as part of local payment acceptance.
- SPEI (Mexico)coreBank transfer system integration in Mexico for local electronic funds transfers through the SPEI network.
- Standard BankcoreBank direct integration in South Africa enabling EFT payments and settlement processing through Standard Bank.
- NedbankcoreBank direct integration in South Africa enabling EFT payments, Nedbank Direct EFT, and settlement processing through Nedbank.
- FNB (First National Bank)coreBank direct integration in South Africa enabling payments and settlement processing through FNB.
- Capitec PaycoreDigital banking payment integration in South Africa enabling Capitec Pay payments for merchants.
- MTN MoneycoreMobile money integration across African markets (Ghana, Ivory Coast, Uganda) enabling MTN Money payments and transfers.
- WavecoreMobile money integration in Ivory Coast enabling Wave digital payments and transfers.
- Orange MoneycoreMobile money integration in Ivory Coast enabling Orange Money payments and transfers.
- EcobankcoreBank direct integration in Ivory Coast for Ecobank payments and settlement processing.
- Glovo KenyaminorGlovo Kenya uses Cross Switch payment capabilities through the Pesawise partnership for local payment acceptance.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cross Switch competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Paystack: African-focused online payment gateway (acquired by Stripe) that processes card and local payment methods for businesses across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya — a directly comparable gateway and orchestration peer.
- Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa): Pan-African digital payments hub connecting mobile wallets, banks, and remittance operators across Africa — closely comparable given Cross Switch's mobile money integrations and emerging-market payment-rail orchestration.
- Cellulant: African payment platform providing a single API for digital payments, collections, and disbursements across multiple African markets — a direct orchestration-layer competitor in the same geographies.
- Flutterwave: Pan-African payment infrastructure provider offering payment processing, cross-border, and orchestration services to merchants across Africa — directly comparable to Cross Switch in target markets, customer base, and emerging-market focus.
- dLocal: Cross-border payment processor connecting global merchants to emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, and Asia — directly comparable given Cross Switch's emerging-market cross-border, multi-currency, and local-rail focus.
Emerging players
- Verto: Cross-border B2B payments platform focused on emerging markets, offering multi-currency business accounts and local payment rails — comparable to Cross Switch's cross-border FX and emerging-market orchestration offering.
Broad incumbents
- PayU: Global payments operator with strong presence in emerging markets (Africa, LATAM, India) offering gateways, orchestration, and credit — a broader incumbent whose product set overlaps Cross Switch's emerging-market merchant focus.
- Network International (now part of Stripe): Leading payment processor across the Middle East and Africa, providing merchant acquiring, processing, and orchestration for banks and large merchants — a broader incumbent with overlapping capability in Cross Switch's MEA markets.
Regional players
- Pesawise: Licensed Kenyan payment service provider partnered with Cross Switch that delivers local payment acceptance in East Africa — comparable as a regional orchestration-and-PSP player in one of Cross Switch's core markets.
Others
- Plaid: Financial data and bank-API connectivity platform enabling account authentication, balance, and payment initiation — an adjacent enabler whose bank-Authenticated Pay-style flows (e.g., Absa Pay) overlap with Cross Switch's open-banking integrations.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cross Switch social profiles
Digital presenceCross Switch compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Cross Switch financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cross Switch leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Cross Switch funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cross Switch 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 Cross Switch
What does Cross Switch do?
Cross Switch provides the CS+ Platform, a single API-based payment orchestration layer that connects merchants, payment partners, and payment service providers to banks, mobile wallets, card schemes, and local payment rails across emerging markets in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia, and India. The platform supports collections, disbursements, cross-border payments with FX handling, smart routing to optimise transaction costs, and white-label PSP enablement. All capabilities are delivered through one unified API integration with built-in PCI-DSS compliance and AML controls.
Is Cross Switch a public or private company?
Cross Switch is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cross Switch founded?
Cross Switch was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cross Switch based?
Cross Switch is headquartered in Birkirkara, Malta, in the Europe region.
How does Cross Switch make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Payment Orchestration Services are the primary driver. The others are PSP White-Label Licensing and cross-Border FX Services.
Who are Cross Switch's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Paystack, Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa), Cellulant, Flutterwave and dLocal. Verto is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are PayU and Network International (now part of Stripe). Pesawise is listed as a regional player. Plaid is listed as an others.
Does Cross Switch have an API?
Yes. Cross Switch offers a unified API solution called CS+ Platform that enables businesses to connect with banks, mobile wallets, schemes and local payment rails. The API provides unified APIs for collections and disbursements, smart routing to optimise authorisation rates and reduce transaction costs, real-time transaction visibility, data insights and reporting, PCI-DSS compliance and secure data handling, and white-label enablement to launch and operate your own PSP solution. The cross-border layer includes built-in compliance, AML controls and reporting.
What industry is Cross Switch in?
Cross Switch's product category is Payment Orchestration Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAMACAI, Cross-Border & Multi-Currency Gateway Services, with a secondary code of BPAMAFAK, Cross-Border & FX Payments Platforms. Its NAICS code is 52232 and its SIC code is 7371.