South African card-linked instalment platform Float has expanded into the United Kingdom (UK) in a move supported by the UK Government’s Global Entrepreneur Programme, which brings high-growth international businesses into the UK market.
Founded in 2021, Float is a card-linked instalment platform that lets shoppers split any credit card purchase into up to 24 interest- and fee-free monthly instalments, using the credit they already have on their existing Visa or Mastercard. The startup’s platform is available in over 2,200 stores, including Samsung, iStore, The North Face, Cycle Lab, and Tiger Wheel & Tyre. Across its merchant base, Float increases average order value by around 130 per cent, with merchants seeing measurably larger baskets, improved conversion, and access to a higher-spending shopper segment.
Float, which has raised over ZAR280 million (US$17 million) in equity and debt funding, has now expanded to the UK, with help from the Global Entrepreneur Programme. Founder and CEO Alex Forsyth-Thompson said the move presented an “enormous opportunity” for Float to expand and add the same value in a new market.
“We are already seeing success: merchant take-up has been significantly faster than our South Africa launch a few years ago, and we were recently shortlisted in the UK for the PAY360 Award for Best Consumer Payments Product and the Ecommerce Awards’ Best eCommerce Payment Solution,” he said