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Durban is having a fintech moment.
This time, it’s making its mark on the global sporting stage, with one homegrown fintech business taking its place alongside one of the biggest names in English football.
The Durban-based payments infrastructure company, Swiffy, has become the first South African business in this sector to secure an official partnership with a Premier League football club, following the announcement of its new partnership with Hull City.
The deal comes as Hull City returns to the Premier League for the 2026/27 season, putting a Durban-founded business in front of one of the world's most passionate and international sporting audiences.
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From Durban to the Premier League
Founded in South Africa and headquartered in Durban, Swiffy is a digital payment infrastructure platform for businesses operating across African markets. Its end-to-end payments stack lets merchants manage deposits, payouts, and settlement through one integrated platform, helping businesses move money faster and more efficiently.
The partnership will see Swiffy work with Hull City throughout the upcoming season, spanning digital and traditional media and in-stadium activity.
Swiffy was founded by Jadie Naicker, Christian Di Zio and Neil Schwartzman – three friends whose lives have been shaped by football and who started the business in a garage.
The opportunity to see that Durban-born business become an official Premier League partner is something the founders describe as both surreal and deeply personal.
Their statement reads: “We’re incredibly proud that a business built here in South Africa is stepping onto the Premier League stage with Hull City. You grow up watching English football and seeing the history, scale and global influence of these clubs without necessarily imagining that one day a business you built in Durban – that originated with three friends starting a business out of a garage – would become an official partner of one of them.”
Joe Clutterbrook, Chief Operating Officer at Hull City, says: “Swiffy is a business with a clear understanding of the African market and a strong focus on making digital payments work better for its customers. There’s a natural alignment between their ambition to connect businesses and customers across the continent and our own ambition to connect Hull City with supporters around the world.”
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A global platform with an African focus
English football has a huge following across Africa, making the Hull City partnership particularly relevant to Swiffy's ambitions.
While the business gains an international platform, its focus remains firmly rooted in Africa, where it is continuing to expand its payments infrastructure for online businesses operating in complex, high-volume environments.
Swiffy's technology supports sectors including foreign exchange, iGaming and sports betting, bringing deposits, payouts and settlement together in one payments stack.
The company is aiming to further strengthen its position in South Africa by the end of 2027 while establishing a growing presence across key African markets.
Durban is having a fintech moment
Swiffy's Premier League deal also adds to a growing fintech story coming out of Durban.
The city has already produced successful home-grown payment technology businesses such as iKhokha. This Durban-based tech company developed a mobile Point of Sale solution that went on to win the MTN Enterprise App of the Year award and the Best Innovation Award at the 2016 Innovation Forum in Budapest, before partnering with global payments giant Mastercard and retail group Massmart.
Durban is proving that technology businesses built in the city can solve big problems, and even compete on an international stage.
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