South African Fintech Lipa Raises USD 665 K Funding

South African-based fintech start-up Lipa Payments has secured an R10 million (USD 665 K) investment from Empowerment Capital’s Imvelo Ventures, which is backed by Capitec Bank.

Lipa’s payments solution allows merchants to even accept payments from phones that don’t have near-field communication (NFC) capabilities by using Bluetooth technology, or a bank-card payment directly on their smartphones (using NFC technology). Apple is rumored to be readying a similar capability for iPhones to accept tap-to-pay payments directly.