Capitec acquires Walletdoc for R400 million

Capitec, the Stellenbosch-based bank, has acquired Walletdoc, a payments gateway specialist, in a deal worth R400 million ($21 million). The move is aimed at deepening its presence in South Africa’s growing payments space, pushing further into digital commerce, and lowering transaction costs for customers.

The deal was signed on 5 December, with a binding agreement for Capitec to acquire 100% of Walletdoc Holdings, the parent company of Walletdoc. It is still subject to regulatory approval, but once completed, Capitec will take full ownership of the business.

Capitec will pay R300 million upfront, while the remaining R100 million will be deferred over three years as an earn-out tied to performance milestones and the Capitec share price.

Walletdoc, founded in 2015 by Leonard Shenker and Dan Wagner, provides payment gateway solutions for merchants and has built a strong reputation in the digital payments space. The company has led several firsts in South Africa—including being the first to offer Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. It also pioneered Mastercard and Visa tokenisation in the region, becoming the largest tokenised payments processor in the country. Capitec described Walletdoc’s culture of “innovation, efficiency, and client focus” as aligned with its own.

Capitec, which now serves over 24 million active clients, has grown into South Africa’s largest retail transactional bank. Although founded earlier, the bank embraced digital banking early on, launching internet banking in 2008 and its mobile app in 2014. Its 2019 acquisition of Mercantile Bank helped it expand into business banking.