FNB has entered into a partnership with South African fintech start-up VezoPay, the company behind the country’s first smart payment ring.
Under the deal, customers of FNB Private Bank and RMB Private Bank will be able to use VezoPay’s ring – certified by Visa and Mastercard and powered by global contactless-services platform Fidesmo – as an alternative tap-and-go payment device when using a smartphone or physical card is inconvenient.
VezoPay’s ring uses NFC (near-field communication) technology, supports tokenised encrypted transactions (so payment credentials aren’t stored on the ring) and links to FNB’s virtual cards platform.
Through the VezoPay app, FNB customers can link a virtual card and make payments simply by rolling their hand into a fist and tapping the point-of-sale terminal. The ring requires no charging.
FNB said the partnership extends its digital payment ecosystem into the wearable space. According to FNB executives, the bank is seeing strong growth in contactless payments: in August, it reported that digital-wallet retail spend had surpassed R200-billion and 58% of that was via its virtual cards. Digital wallet transaction volumes were up over 42% year on year. The new ring offering is positioned to ride that momentum and provide customers with an extra option for secure, flexible payment.
Investment
This isn’t VezoPay’s first move with local banks. In July 2024, TechCentral reported that VezoPay had signed its first banking partner in Nedbank, allowing Nedbank cardholders to use the ring for payments.
In early 2025, TechCentral also reported that VezoPay secured investment from the founder of payment provider PayFast and that the banking roll-out was expected to include other institutions beyond Nedbank.
Read: PayFast founder invests in South African smart-ring maker VezoPay
With the new FNB partnership, VezoPay is scaling up and broadening its market reach. For FNB, the wearable ring represents an extension of its payment modernisation strategy – moving beyond cards and phones to wearables. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
Get breaking news from TechCentral on WhatsApp. Sign up here.