Now Stitching with Direct Deposit

Direct deposits should be a default for businesses. Its ubiquitous nature makes it more efficient than traditional deposits via banks. To fully automate transactions, South African payments and data API startup,  Stitch, has announced the launch of direct deposit or manual transfer as a payment method.

Stitch’s direct deposit service will enable businesses avoid the need to create and maintain direct integrations with specific banks, receive notifications for manual EFT payments, reconcile payments seamlessly alongside other Stitch methods, and take advantage of quicker settlement times. Stitch CPO, Junaid Dadan, said on the product launch that the startup aims to provide consumers greater choice in how they choose to pay, noting that merchants will be notified instantly, and the transactions will be automatically reconciled.

“We want to give consumers more choice in how they wish to pay, while ensuring a fantastic experience for them, and taking the headache out of payments acceptance and reconciliation for the merchant. With Direct Deposit, customers can choose to initiate a transfer from their banking apps to a merchant account. The merchant will be notified instantly, and the transactions will be automatically reconciled alongside other payments coming through Stitch – no need for businesses to develop and maintain integrations with each bank individually,” said Dadan.

How Stitch Became an African Fintech Force in Just 1 Year

Direct deposits eliminate safety concerns. It cannot be lost or stolen because the funds flow automatically from the payer’s account to yours. In the end, setting up direct deposit presents the greatest possible security risk. Direct deposit security can be increased by making sure that the right person in a business you trust receives your bank account information through a secure route.

Also, direct deposits quickly complete transactions. Rather than waiting for paper checks to arrive, be deposited and clear the bank, a direct deposit gets the money to the recipient quickly and efficiently, meaning transactions are cleared sooner.

Since coming out of stealth mode 3 years, the south African Fintech startup has since pulled strides, ensuring that it disrupts the continent’s financial space. Stitch secured a $4m seed round in 2021, and then a $21 million Series A funding round a year later. Since then, Stitch has introduced Stitch Payouts to simplify and make it faster for businesses to pay clients, suppliers, partners, and staff; partnered with Easy Crypto to promote crypto trading; partnered Zapper to enable users scan payment directly and most recently partnered Peach Payments for EFT payments.

Businesses have a seemingly never-ending list of tasks to check off their to-do lists these days. Thankfully, running to the banks to deposit paychecks or other payment doesn’t have to be one of them for South African businesses thanks to the service from Stitch. Direct deposit will create convenience and saves money for South African businesses, employees and employers.