Capitec and Stitch Launch South Africa’s First Variable Recurring Payments (VRP)

Stitch  has partnered with Capitec Bank  to bring Capitec Pay Variable Recurring Payments (VRP) to market, enabling customers to use their Capitec account to pay for subscriptions or recurring payments such as streaming services, mobile data contracts, on-demand delivery and more.

The first VRP offering in South Africa, Capitec Pay VRP will enable Capitec customers to make recurring payments via their bank accounts and pre-approve future transactions via their Capitec app, adding another option to credit card for recurring purchases.

How it works:

• The customer chooses Capitec Pay at checkout and enters their registered Capitec mobile number
• A request for authorisation is sent to the customer via the Capitec app, including an agreed transaction limit
• Initial setup or payment must be authorised by the customer via the app
• Once set up, the customer does not need to authorise each additional or subsequent charge with the merchant, unless it exceeds the agreed limit

A key feature is that with Capitec Pay VRP, the customer must authorise a maximum amount they can be charged per transaction, and can pause or cancel as needed. The amount charged may vary depending on the final transaction value. It can be leveraged for once-off or recurring payments.

Capitec Pay VRP can be leveraged for a number of use cases requiring recurring or variable amount payments, such as:

• Food + grocery delivery: Customers can add Capitec Pay as a payment method when ordering food or groceries and pre-approve a checkout amount. The final amount they are charged may vary based on additions or missing items, up to the approved amount
• Delivery + logistics: Customers can add Capitec Pay as a payment method when placing an order for delivery. The final amount charged may vary based on final item weight or additional costs required, up to the approved amount. The customer will not need to authorise each payment in their Capitec app
• Mobile phone contracts: Customers can make monthly payments for mobile phone contracts using their Capitec account
• Streaming services: Customers can pay for monthly services using their Capitec bank account
• E-commerce subscriptions: Customers can use their Capitec account to purchase subscriptions for retail products delivered at a regular cadence

For enterprise merchants, this helps to streamline payment operations, makes recurring collections much more fast and seamless and enables more successful transactions:

• Fast and seamless collections: Merchants can collect recurring or subscription payments quickly and easily from Capitec customers
• Better user experience: Capitec Pay VRP offers a secure and streamlined user experience for recurring payments
• Higher success rates: Capitec customers will see higher payment success rates for recurring payments using VRP

“With Capitec Pay variable and recurring payments now available across our partner network and live with Stitch, clients gain more control and visibility over their ongoing payment commitments. We’re expanding Capitec Pay’s everyday uses – like grocery checkout and delivery – while keeping rates affordable for merchants.”

– Chris Zietsman, Executive Head, Capitec Business Payments

“We’re excited to work with the Capitec team to bring this important solution to the South African market. VRP gives Capitec customers more control over the way they make recurring payments, and helps businesses to streamline collections – especially where there are complex requirements. This will have a major impact on the market, and we’re excited to offer this to all our enterprise clients in South Africa.”

– Junaid Dadan, President and Co-founder, Stitch

Stitch has been working closely with the Capitec team to offer Capitec Pay to customers since it launched in 2023. Today, Capitec Pay has over 25 million active customers and continues to grow rapidly.