New Paystashio platform aims to simplify corporate spending for South African SMEs

South African technology company Byte Orbit has partnered with global issuer processor Paymentology to launch Paystashio, a spend management platform designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) manage company expenses more efficiently.

The platform combines corporate payment cards, real-time spending controls and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered expense reconciliation to reduce administrative work and improve visibility over business spending.

Through the partnership, businesses will be able to issue physical and virtual employee cards, allocate individual spending limits and monitor transactions as they happen.

The platform also offers digital receipt capture and AI-assisted transaction categorisation, helping finance teams match purchases with supporting documents and simplify expense reconciliation.

Paystashio was developed in response to challenges Byte Orbit experienced in managing its own company expenses, including shared corporate cards, missing receipts, employee reimbursements and time-consuming manual financial administration.

Herman van Zyl, commercial manager at Byte Orbit, said the platform was designed to address these everyday frustrations.

“Paystashio was born out of challenges we experienced ourselves, from chasing receipts to spending hours reconciling company expenses. We knew there had to be a better way,” van Zyl said.

He said the partnership with Paymentology brings payments, spending controls and financial information together in one platform, allowing employees greater flexibility while helping businesses reduce administrative workloads.

The platform also offers integrations with accounting software such as Xero, while Sage and QuickBooks integrations are listed as coming soon.

The launch comes as businesses increasingly look towards digital tools to improve operational efficiency.

According to the Xero State of South African Small Business 2025 report, 40% of small businesses using cloud technology said it helped reduce administration or automate tasks, highlighting the potential role of technology in simplifying business operations.

Paymentology's processing infrastructure supports real-time transaction authorisation and spending controls at the point of purchase, allowing businesses to manage employee expenditure with greater oversight.

Kesheni Moodley, regional director for Africa at Paymentology, said SMEs play an important role in the economy but often lose valuable time to financial administration.

“By providing the processing technology behind Paystashio, we're helping bring smarter business payments to market, giving SMEs greater control, flexibility and room to grow,” Moodley said.

Byte Orbit said Paystashio will initially target South African SMEs, with plans to develop the platform into a broader business payments ecosystem by introducing additional financial capabilities as customer needs evolve.

The company also sees longer-term opportunities for expansion into other markets.

While the platform is positioned as a tool for improving spending oversight and reconciliation, its impact on businesses will depend on adoption, pricing and how effectively it integrates into existing financial systems.