TurnStay Hits R1bn Travel Payments, Preps Series A

In Short

TurnStay has processed more than R1 billion in travel payments in the first six months of 2026. The South African fintech now serves over 100 travel and hospitality clients and is preparing a Series A funding round.

What Happened

TurnStay says it has scaled from processing only tens of thousands of rand shortly after launching in late 2023 to crossing R1 billion in transaction volume in H1 2026.

The company positions itself as a cross-border payments platform for hotels, safari lodges, tour operators, and travel homes that need to collect money from international guests.

TurnStay uses a merchant-of-record model, meaning it can act as the seller of record for payment processing so travel businesses can accept payments more easily across different countries and card networks. It also uses multiple payment rails, including stablecoins, which are crypto tokens designed to track the value of fiat currencies like the US dollar.

TurnStay claims this setup can reduce billing costs for travel operators by up to 70%, mainly by lowering cross-border fees and speeding up settlement.

The company says growth has come from existing customers increasing their activity, plus larger enterprise travel groups joining the platform. Its team has grown to 13 people.

TurnStay currently operates across South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, and Mauritius, with more expansion planned as regulations and payment infrastructure allow.

Why It Matters

Cross-border payments are still expensive and slow for many African businesses, especially in travel where guests pay from abroad and operators need to manage multi-country cash flow.

If TurnStay can keep transaction costs down and improve settlement speed, it could become a key payments layer for travel and hospitality groups that operate across African markets.

The planned Series A raise will be an important test. Many African startups are finding Series A capital harder to secure, and investors are looking for clear revenue growth, strong compliance, and reliable payment operations.