The Kenya-based Direct Pay Online (DPO) Group has announced the acquisition of Setcom, which operates SID Instant EFT, an instant electronic funds transfer (EFT) solution in South Africa.

Setcom, founded in 1999, is the sixth South African payments company acquired by DPO, adding the SID Instant EFT solution to a local suite of payment providers that already includes Pay Gate, VCS and PayThru.

With each DPO acquisition, e-commerce business owners can accept more payment options in more African countries, with DPO saying this deal will complement its suite of payment solutions across the continent, which currently includes processing for all major cards, mobile money and e-wallets.

"We are excited to add South Africa's leading Instant EFT solution to our suite of products, and look forward to working with Setcom's innovative team, including the founder and instant EFT innovator David Liu. Setcom has been a pioneer in the payments industry for many years, and we have no doubt that they will continue to bring new and innovative solutions to our customers and merchants across Africa," said DPO Group chairman Offer Gat.

The acquisition of Setcom, and the subsequent incorporation of SID Instant EFT into the DPO product suite, will allow DPO to be the first payment service provider to offer merchants a single solution for all their online payment needs.

"Setcom's goal has always been to help people buy and sell anywhere and at any time, a vision shared by the DPO Group. By joining together, we have no doubt that we will achieve this goal and create the leading payments platform in Africa," said Setcom founder David Liu.

DPO Group CEOP Eran Feinstein said Setcom had continuously innovated and achieved impressive results in the South African payment space.

"We plan to expand and promote SID to all current and future merchants across our markets so that they may offer this payment option to their customers, further helping them to enhance their businesses," he said.