Canva has partnered with EBANX, starting to offer recurring payments to South African customers through Capitec Pay.
The visual communication platform's move marks a shift in how global subscription businesses can reach consumers in South Africa, where credit card ownership remains limited. The service was made available to Canva through its ongoing partnership with EBANX, a Brazil-founded technology company that focuses on payment services for expanding markets.
Addressing a structural payment gap
According to data from the South African Reserve Bank and the World Bank, credit card usage in South Africa is low, ranging between 8% and 10% of the adult population. In the past, this has limited the reach of card-on-file subscription models, leaving an estimated 44 million people in the country without access to services that rely on this payment method.
Capitec Pay addresses this by allowing customers to approve a recurring payment once within its app, after which participating merchants can collect subsequent subscription payments automatically, without requiring a card. Canva is the first international subscription service to use this functionality.
EBANX, which describes itself as a technology provider connecting global businesses to emerging digital markets, said it helped develop the solution and became the first payment service provider to integrate Capitec Pay into cross-border payment flows. The company supports recurring alternative payment methods (APM) across 12 emerging markets, a network it says reaches more than one billion consumers, many of whom don’t have access to credit or debit cards.
Growth projections
South Africa's digital commerce sector has been expanding rapidly. Based on data cited by EBANX in its Beyond Borders study, ecommerce penetration has reached 74% of adults, with annual growth anticipated at 20% through 2028.
For Canva, the integration is positioned as removing a structural limitation that had previously restricted access to the platform for a significant portion of South African consumers. EBANX framed the development as a departure from subscription billing models built around consumer payment behaviour in the US and Western Europe, rather than markets such as South Africa.
The partnership adds to a wider set of alternative payment integrations EBANX has pursued across emerging markets, as global merchants continue to seek ways to reach consumers who fall outside conventional card-based payment infrastructure. Earlier in 2026, the company expanded its recurring APMs across six countries.
