Float Bypasses African Expansion to Take On UK Fintech Leaders
Quick Reads:
- Float expands to UK with its card-linked instalment product, letting shoppers split existing credit card purchases into interest-free monthly payments.
- The startup has signed over 2,200 merchants in South Africa, including Samsung and The North Face, and raised more than R280 million ($17.1 million).
- Founder Alex Forsyth-Thompson says the UK’s 55 million credit cards and £250 billion in unused credit limits make it a natural fit for Float’s model.
- The expansion is backed by the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme.
Most African fintechs chase growth by moving into neighbouring countries first. Float is doing the opposite. The Johannesburg-founded payments startup has skipped the usual continental playbook, and Float expands to UK as its first major international move, taking direct aim at one of the world’s most competitive fintech markets.
Float’s product lets shoppers convert purchases made on their existing Visa or Mastercard credit cards into interest-free instalments spread over up to 24 months. Unlike typical buy now, pay later apps, Float doesn’t issue new loans or require a separate sign-up. It simply works with credit a customer already has, while merchants pay a fee for offering the option at checkout.
Founder and CEO Alex Forsyth-Thompson told TechCabal that South Africa’s fintech sector is more competitive than people assume, and that building there prepared Float for tougher markets rather than holding it back. The company has already signed on more than 2,200 South African merchants, among them Samsung, iStore, The North Face, Cycle Lab and Tiger Wheel & Tyre, and has raised over R280 million ($17.1 million) from backers including Standard Bank, Invenfin, Platform Investment Partners and Saad Investment Holdings.
The reasoning behind why Float expands to UK comes down to numbers. Forsyth-Thompson points to over 55 million credit cards in circulation in Britain, roughly £70 billion in interest-accruing balances, and about £250 billion sitting unused on those same cards. His pitch is simple: British shoppers don’t need more credit, they need more time to pay off what they already have.
That positioning also sets Float apart from BNPL giants like Klarna and Clearpay, which extend fresh credit at checkout. Float instead works on top of credit limits banks have already approved, sidestepping the need for new loan applications or extra apps. The move is supported by the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme, designed to draw high-growth international startups into the country.
Building for two markets wasn’t simple. Forsyth-Thompson said Float had to rebuild its infrastructure to run across multiple territories and payment environments before it could expand at all. With that groundwork done, he says UK merchant sign-ups have moved faster than Float’s early days back home, a sign that lessons from a smaller, cost-conscious market can translate into an advantage abroad.
Whether other African fintechs follow this route to the UK ahead of expanding regionally remains to be seen. For now, Float expands to UK first, betting that a track record built under pressure at home is exactly what it takes to compete in a market crowded with established rivals.
