The cashflow crisis quietly killing South African small businesses – and the fintech solving it

A South African fintech lender providing fast and flexible working capital funding to small to medium enterprises (SMEs) solves the delayed payments crisis facing SMEs with short- to medium-term business loans of up to R10 million.

Its funding is approved in 24 hours or less, with its current average being three hours, through an online process that takes around two minutes – offering a simpler and more transparent alternative to traditional loans.

Instead of requiring extensive paperwork, audited financials and multiple in-person meetings, its technology connects securely to a business’s bank and accounting data to build a real-time picture of its financial health. This allows Bridgement to make faster, more accurate credit decisions and to price funding in a way that reflects the actual performance of the business.

Addressing the late-payment and cashflow gaps with revolving credit, term loans and invoice financing for up to 24 months, Bridgement ensures SMEs remain financially stable and operational while waiting for delayed payments. Facilities are designed to be reused as customers settle their invoices, helping business owners smooth out cashflow, take on larger orders with confidence and negotiate better terms with their own suppliers.

The gap this closes

The National Treasury published data in March 2026 confirming that R12.4 billion in invoices older than 30 days remained unpaid by government departments alone. In the private sector, payment cycles of 90–120 days are standard.

The end-to-end cash cycle for an SME supplying large corporates can exceed 150 days once order times, delivery, invoicing and extended payment terms are factored in.

For a growing business, that gap is often the difference between hiring or freezing headcount, taking on a new contract or turning it down – and in some cases, keeping the doors open.

Technology simplifies SME payments and liquidity

Bridgement is the only SME credit provider in South Africa integrated into the country’s three leading cloud accounting platforms: Xero, Sage and QuickBooks. These integrations allow the company to ingest up-to-date financial data directly from the tools SMEs already use to run their businesses, eliminating manual uploads and reducing the risk of errors.

By combining banking and accounting data with its proprietary credit-scoring models, Bridgement can make faster decisions, tailor limits to each client’s actual trading patterns, and offer dynamic facilities that grow as the business grows. For SME owners, this means less time spent on paperwork and more time serving customers and building their companies while effectively overcoming the payment gap.

“Waiting three to six months to be paid is simply not compatible with running a healthy small business,” says Daniel Goldberg, founder and CEO of Bridgement. “Our mission is to give SMEs a funding partner that moves at the same speed they do – using technology to remove friction, paperwork and uncertainty from the process.

“By plugging directly into the accounting and banking tools SMEs already use, we can understand their businesses in real time and provide the right level of funding at the right moment. That means our clients can focus on winning contracts and serving customers, instead of chasing payments and worrying about month-end.”