Paymenow is a South African startup founded in 2019 that provides earned wage access (EWA) to let employees withdraw wages as they earn them. Its platform positions EWA as an alternative to high-interest payday loans and aims to improve employee financial wellness. The company plans to expand its services across South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia, while exploring additional markets with limited formal financial services. Paymenow has been scaling via debt facilities, most recently securing a ZAR400 million working-capital facility from Standard Bank. That follows a prior ZAR250 million debt facility from Rand Merchant Bank in 2023. Standard Bank is also partnering on technology integration, bringing its PayShap real-time payments solution and OneHub platform into Paymenow’s system to speed and streamline payments. Paymenow operates a responsible early-access-to-wages platform developed for the South African market, delivered through a secure mobile app that integrates with employers’ payroll systems. The product targets low-income earners to help them even out cash flows and avoid high-cost payday loans. The company pairs earned-wage access with financial wellness and inclusion education and emphasizes responsible behavioural change. Paymenow developed its own solution after finding UK offerings incompatible with local needs in SADC. Participation in Catalyst Fund provides validation and investor introductions that the founders expect to leverage to scale. The team plans to expand headcount, specifically hiring an experienced Client Success Manager to support sales and account management.

Total raised

$23M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Aug 2025