Built on two decades inside the market.

The Payments Brief is not a fintech publication. Fintech is broad. Payments is specific. We cover how money actually moves — through economies, businesses and financial institutions — across Africa, starting in South Africa.

What we mean by payments

That means payment rails, merchant acceptance, acquiring, issuing, wallets, real-time payments, orchestration, regulation, infrastructure and the technologies that support them. We believe understanding payments requires looking beyond apps and interfaces to the systems, incentives and institutions that make commerce possible.

Why the distinction matters — and why this is The Payments Brief and not The Fintech Brief — is set out in our editorial principles.

The analyst

The Payments Brief is founded and written by Attie van der Linde, who has spent more than 20 years operating in African payments — across merchant acquiring, payment acceptance, SoftPOS, banks, acquirers, processors, schemes and fintechs, most recently as a Managing Executive for Africa.

That operating experience, and the relationships that come with it, are the foundation of this publication. Our research draws on access and judgement that a desk-based analyst or journalist cannot replicate — which is precisely what makes it worth reading.

What we are

A research and intelligence business with a publication attached. The newsletter and analysis build trust and reach; our research is the work that defines the market. We are independent by policy — see our Editorial Independence Policy — and we publish a public research agenda so that everyone can see what we choose to study and why.

Who we serve

Banking and acquiring executives, heads of payments and merchant services, fintech founders, product and commercial leaders, investors and regulators — starting in South Africa, and broadening across the continent as we earn the right to.