Street Wallet is rolling out a new approach aimed at helping South Africa’s street traders accept digital payments without changing how they operate day to day.
By raising $350,000 and acquiring local payments firm Digitip, the company is focusing on informal merchants who rely heavily on cash and often lack bank accounts, smartphones or card machines.
The model allows traders to receive cashless payments through a QR-based system, while payouts are made through Standard Bank Instant Money vouchers that can be cashed out later. This means traders can accept digital payments without opening bank accounts or investing in new hardware.
Street Wallet says the approach lowers the barriers that have kept many informal traders outside the digital payments system, turning cashless acceptance into a simple, low-effort step rather than a full financial upgrade.
The Digitip acquisition strengthens Street Wallet’s presence in KwaZulu-Natal and adds everyday payment use cases such as tipping and small-value transactions, helping traders collect money more frequently and reliably.
While the funding round is modest in size, the company says it will support wider rollout, partnerships and on-the-ground sales efforts, where adoption depends more on street-level reach than advanced features.
Street Wallet’s move reflects a broader shift in Africa’s payments sector toward serving informal workers, where millions earn daily income and where small, practical tools can have an immediate impact on livelihoods.
