Yoco Grows from Card Machines to 200,000 SME Platform

In Short

Yoco has grown from selling small card machines to building a wider payments and business tools platform for small merchants in South Africa. The company says it now serves 200,000 small businesses.

What Happened

Yoco began around 2013 when four co-founders, Carl Wazen, Katlego Maphai, Lungisa Matshoba, and Bradley Wattrus, saw a clear problem in South Africa’s shift to card payments.

Card transactions were rising fast in the early 2010s, but many small businesses struggled to accept cards. Banks often required paperwork, long onboarding, and higher fees. Card terminals were also designed for larger retailers.

Yoco’s first bet was simple, give small merchants a card machine that is easier to get and easier to use. The business officially launched in October 2015, after a year-long beta that involved more than 500 merchants.

Over time, the product expanded beyond hardware. Yoco has moved toward a platform model, meaning it offers a set of tools that help a business take payments and manage day-to-day operations in one place.

Why It Matters

For many African SMEs, “going cashless” starts with one decision, accepting card payments. If onboarding is slow or expensive, merchants stay cash-only, and that can limit sales and make record-keeping harder.

Yoco’s shift from card terminals to a broader SME technology platform also reflects a common fintech path. Start with a single pain point, then add software and services as merchants grow.

For founders building in payments, the story is a reminder that distribution matters. Yoco’s early challenge was not just technology, it was convincing banks and investors to back a team without a long payments track record.

For the South African fintech market, a 200,000-merchant base signals how large the small business segment is, and how much demand exists for simpler payment acceptance and merchant tools.