Under the agreement, Paymentology provides the issuer processing technology behind Paystashio, which was developed by South Africa-based technology company Byte Orbit. The platform allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to issue physical and virtual cards to employees, assign individual spending limits, track transactions as they occur, and automate expense reconciliation. The aim is to give SMEs tighter oversight of company expenditure while reducing the administrative work involved in managing expenses.
Addressing manual expense processes
Commenting on the agreement, Herman van Zyl, Commercial Manager at Byte Orbit, pointed out that the platform originated from difficulties the company faced itself including tracking down receipts and spending hours reconciling expenses. The platform targets issues common among smaller businesses, such as shared corporate cards, missing receipts, employee reimbursement processes, and reconciliation carried out manually.
The company has been developing enterprise banking and fintech solutions for almost two decades. It has designed the product to balance flexibility for employees with control for finance teams. Paystashio combines configurable spending limits with digital receipt capture and uses AI to categorise transactions, match them with supporting information, and simplify reconciliation. The platform integrates with accounting software providers Xero and Sage, with a QuickBooks integration listed as forthcoming.
Van Zyl added that working with Paymentology allows Byte Orbit to bring payments, spending controls, and financial data into a single platform, with the intention of reducing the time SMEs dedicate to administration.
The role of issuer processing
Paymentology’s platform supports real-time transaction authorisation and applies spending controls at the point of purchase. In practice, the controls configured in Paystashio take effect at the moment a card transaction is authorised. According to the companies, this provides the flexibility and visibility businesses require to manage spending as they grow.
Kesheni Moodley, Regional Director, Africa at Paymentology, noted that SMEs play an important role in the South African economy, but that routine financial administration can divert time from running and growing a business. Moodley described Paystashio as a locally developed response to this issue, with Paymentology supplying the processing technology needed to bring it to market.
Market context and expansion plans
The launch comes as South African businesses increasingly adopt technology to manage their finances. Xero’s State of South African Small Business 2025 report found that 40% of small businesses using cloud technology say it helps them reduce administration or automate tasks, indicating demand for tools that simplify day-to-day operations.
Paystashio will initially focus on SMEs in South Africa. Byte Orbit plans to develop the platform into a broader business payments ecosystem, adding financial capabilities in line with customer needs over time. The company also mentioned longer-term opportunities for geographic expansion.
