Canva Turns to EBANX and Capitec on Subscription Payments
Online graphic design tool Canva has instituted a new way to offer recurring subscription payments. This offering is open to Canva customers in South Africa through Capitec Pay, the account-to-account payment method from the country’s Capitec bank, the companies announced in a news release Wednesday (Sept. 2). The announcement marks “a shift in how global subscription businesses can reach South…
Canva, the online graphic design tool, has introduced a new system for recurring subscription payments in South Africa. This partnership, announced on September 2, involves Capitec Pay, the account-to-account payment method from Capitec Bank. The new system aims to address the issue that card penetration in South Africa ranges from 8% to 10% of the adult population, as reported by the South African Reserve Bank and the World Bank.
This low card penetration has traditionally limited the reach of card-on-file subscription models, excluding 44 million South Africans who do not own credit cards. In contrast, one-third of South Africans use Capitec's mobile app for financial transactions. With this new system, customers can approve a recurring payment once within the app, and businesses like Canva can then collect future subscription payments automatically.
Bianca Sibiya, Canva's Africa lead, stated that this move removes a structural barrier that previously prevented a large portion of South Africans from accessing Canva's platform. Canva's partnership with payment service provider EBANX made this possible. Wiza Jalakasi, commercial lead for Africa and the Middle East at EBANX, noted that card-based billing has been treated as the default model for global subscription products, but this default was based on consumer behavior in the United States and Western Europe, not South Africa.
Research by PYMNTS Intelligence and Trustly found that digital bank customers are more comfortable with new payment experiences and may be willing to shift spending to different payment methods if provided with the right incentives. PYMNTS Intelligence's report "Pay by Bank Deep Dive: Digital Bank Users Are Ready to Switch" revealed that discounts and buyer protection increase the number of transactions consumers are willing to shift to direct-from-bank payments.
Digital bank users stood out in various categories, including retail, groceries, bills, and account-to-account transfers.
Written by urgent.news from PYMNTS's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
