South African fintech startup TurnStay has processed more than ZAR1 billion (US$61.5 million) in transactions so far this year, reaching the milestone within six months and just three years after its founding. The growth highlights the increasing demand for more affordable and efficient payment solutions for African travel businesses serving international customers.
TurnStay was founded by entrepreneurs Alon Stern, co-founder of Slide Financial, and James Hedley, co-founder of Quicket. The company helps African travel businesses receive payments from international guests at lower costs by using payment methods similar to those used by major global booking companies.
Lowering the Cost of International Travel Payments
TurnStay uses a merchant-of-record model combined with payment orchestration to process card payments in a traveller’s home country before settling funds locally. The company also uses stablecoins as part of its payment infrastructure to move funds across borders more quickly and at lower cost.
The approach can reduce payment fees by up to 70 per cent, shorten settlement times and improve booking conversion rates. Traditional local payment processing for foreign travel bookings can cost merchants as much as eight per cent of a transaction, while TurnStay says its clients can pay from as little as 1.6 per cent.
For African travel businesses, the savings can have a direct impact on their earnings and ability to compete internationally. “Getting paid can be expensive in the travel industry, and for a long time African merchants have carried a much heavier cost than their overseas counterparts for doing exactly the same job,” said Stern.
The company believes reducing these costs means more revenue remains with African businesses. “The less merchants pay in fees, the more money stays in Africa,” Stern said. He added that African travel businesses already offer world-class experiences and should have payment infrastructure that matches that standard.
TurnStay’s customers include luxury safari lodges, tour operators and villa agencies across the continent. Its clients include Singita, Safari.com, Londolozi and The Capital.
Building Pan-African Payment Infrastructure
The company is currently based in South Africa and is expanding its activities in markets including Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania and Botswana. Its wider goal is to build payment infrastructure that can support travel businesses across Africa as the continent attracts more international visitors.
TurnStay has also attracted investor backing as it expands. The startup raised US$300,000 in pre-seed funding in 2024, followed by a US$2 million seed round in 2025. It is now preparing for a Series A funding round to support its continued expansion across the continent.
The latest transaction milestone provides a strong indication of the demand for the company’s model. By lowering payment costs and making international settlements faster, TurnStay is seeking to address a long-standing challenge for African travel businesses while helping them retain more value from international bookings.
“Three years ago there were two of us and an idea,” said Stern. “Now we’re processing over a billion rand every six months for some of the best-known names in African travel, and we have just begun.”
