Lesaka acquires Bank Zero for $67 million as fintech reaches 2 million customers

Lesaka is paying about $67 million (R1.1 billion) for Bank Zero in a deal that could turn the digital bank’s 100,000-customer operation into a much larger financial-services platform by plugging it into one of South Africa’s established fintech distribution networks.

The transaction gives Lesaka full ownership of Bank Zero while potentially putting the digital bank in front of 2 million retail customers and 125,000 businesses already served by Lesaka. 

That customer reach is significant because Bank Zero has only recently crossed a critical threshold in its development. The bank became profitable four years and 10 months after launching in October 2021, meaning the acquisition comes as it moves from proving its business model to expanding it. 

The transaction was announced in June 2025, when Lesaka Technologies agreed to acquire 100% of Bank Zero’s issued ordinary shares. The consideration consists of newly issued Lesaka shares and up to R91 million($5.55 million) in cash.

A new banking engine for Lesaka 

The acquisition also changes how Lesaka can deliver financial services to its existing customers. 

The JSE-listed fintech serves underserved consumers and small businesses with products including insurance, microloans and payment processing. Its EasyPay Everywhere service currently uses African Bank to provide customers with basic transactional accounts. 

Bank Zero gives Lesaka its own banking infrastructure. That could allow Lesaka to deepen its relationship with customers rather than depending on another bank for the underlying transactional banking service. It also gives Bank Zero access to a much larger customer ecosystem without having to build that distribution network from scratch. 

The companies see further opportunities in South Africa’s R1 trillion($60.95 billion) informal economy, where Lesaka already has an established presence.

Bank Zero targets lending and cross-border payments 

Bank Zero is also seeking to broaden what it can offer. The bank has applied to South Africa’s Prudential Authority for permission to enter lending and to expand its authorised dealer licence to handle offshore business payments and remittances. 

Bank Zero CEO Yatin Narsai said the acquisition is expected to generate more than R100 millino($6.1 million) in synergy benefits, while giving the bank an opportunity to enter lending using Lesaka’s existing capabilities. 

For Bank Zero, the immediate opportunity is to convert Lesaka’s distribution into customer growth. For Lesaka, the transaction provides access to a banking platform that can support a broader range of financial products. 

The deal has already received unconditional approval from South Africa’s competition authorities.

Prudential Authority approval and exchange control approval from the South African Reserve Bank are still required, with Lesaka expecting the transaction to become unconditional in December 2026. 

Once completed, the acquisition will bring together a digital bank that has reached profitability with a fintech group that already has millions of customers — creating a significantly larger platform from which both businesses can expand.