Popular South African payments company shuts down

Ticketless parking platform KaChing will be terminating services in South Africa at the end of August, as the service has “run its course” in the country.

The company announced on Thursday, 14 August 2025, that KaChing will begin a gradual shutdown of its services, with its final day of operation anticipated to be 31 August 2025.

KaChing is a cashless and ticketless parking app that uses license plate recognition to open a boom when a user arrives at a parking lot. 

Upon exiting, the payment is linked to the user’s credit card or prepaid account. The service’s selling point is that it makes the parking experience hassle-free and cost-effective.

In the announcement of its shutdown, the company explained that, since its launch a decade ago, KaChing’s mission has been to revolutionise the way South Africans pay for parking.

The Sunday Times reported in 2016 that Ka-Ching was started by childhood friends Jaco Marais, an engineer, and programmer Rudolph de Wet. The two friends, along with private equity specialist William Cosby, developed KaChing in 2014.

The service launched in May 2015, and, according to Tracxn, was acquired by Servest on 2 November 2016. 

In 2016, Tritech Media, a media technology group controlled by the Kirsh family, acquired a 30% stake in the company.

On its website, the company said its service has overseen over one million successful parkings, with over 60,000 vehicles and 25,000 active users.

The service was available at over 35 sites across South Africa, including Melrose Arch, The Pavilion, Morningside Shopping Centre, Galleria Mall and Wits University’s Donald Gordon Medical Centre.

“Over the past decade, we’ve proudly served thousands of users and partnered with numerous parking facilities to make your experience smoother, faster, and more convenient,” the company said.

However, it said that after ten years of innovation and dedication, “the time has come for us to acknowledge that the technology we pioneered has run its course”.

KaChing said users who still have a prepaid balance with the service should contact the company to ensure they receive a refund.