Online finance platform Zazu changed its name to Manza. Founded by Rinse Jacobs and Germain Bahri, both formerly of Solarisbank, the company launched in South Africa and expanded into Morocco this year. It now serves more than 1000 businesses across both markets.
The new name draws on Mansa, the title borne by the rulers of the 14th-century Mali Empire, whose trade routes carried gold, goods and knowledge across the continent and into the Middle East and beyond.
The company says it wanted a name built for where it is going rather than where it started. “We weren’t looking for a replacement name. We were looking for a name that could carry the whole ambition. Something that means something in Johannesburg and in Casablanca, and that still works in Dubai or Singapore. Manza does that,” says Rinse Jacobs, co-founder and CEO.
What is Manza?
Manza is an online business account for entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs. Its mission is to give small businesses financial tools that match their ambitions, delivered entirely online rather than through a branch network.
Manza operates in South Africa through Access Bank South Africa and has built its payment stack around the local rails businesses actually use, including real-time clearing and EFT, and an integration with Peach Payments for card and online collection.
Its South African customers range from fast-growing startups to established multi-store operators, including Sneaker Shack and Bolt.
What Does Manza Do?
The platform is built for entrepreneurs, freelancers and SMEs. It has a range of financial tools and features, including:
- Account Integrations: Connect Manza with Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, or Zoho Books to simplify bookkeeping and reconciliation.
- Payment Cards: Mastercard business cards to pay anywhere, anytime. And create cards in one click for your team.
- Transfers: Receive, send, and manage business payments across South Africa (EFT and RTC).
- Invoicing Tool: Create, send, and track invoices in one place to get paid faster and simplify your bookkeeping.
- Bookkeeping and Cash Flow: Manza has automated accounting syncs for your SAVA-issued cards and transactions directly from your Manza account.
- Digital Incorporation: Manza helps users select their ideal legal structure, registers their business and provides business registration certificates for free.
- Expense and Spend Management: Maintain full control over all expenses with smart expense tracking, receipt management, and real-time cash flow monitoring at a glance from your dashboard.
The Manza Idube Card
Created through a collaboration with South African artists, the Idube card is a physical and virtual card that operates on the Mastercard network and is designed specifically for SMEs, entrepreneurs, and sole proprietors in South Africa to help manage business spend and company expenses.
Key features of the Idube Card:
- Dual Providers: The cards are officially issued in partnership with Sava and Access Bank.
- Control and Spend Management: Business owners can issue cards to teams, set custom spending limits, receive instant transaction notifications, and freeze or unfreeze cards instantly via the mobile app.
- Integrated Bookkeeping: Transactions link directly with Manza’s broader platform to automate bookkeeping, track cash flow, and integrate with accounting and payroll software.
- Cost-Efficient: The card and associated business account operate with R0/month fees and no hidden costs.
“Our customers didn’t ask for a new logo; they asked for an online business account that works. So the bar for this was simple: nobody’s Monday should be harder because of it,” explains Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer, Germain Bahri.
Why Manza Works for SMEs and Entrepreneurs
By providing a modern, paperless alternative to traditional banking systems, Manza solves critical friction points like slow onboarding, hidden fees, and fragmented expense tracking.
Key benefits of the platform include:
- Fast, Digital Onboarding: Manza Business Account Engine allows startups, SMEs and retailers to complete their verification in 5 minutes with a 24-hour account review window.
- Zero Monthly Fees: The platform offers R0/month business accounts with transparent pricing and no hidden costs, allowing small businesses to keep operational overheads low.
- Real-Time Expense Control: Business owners can issue physical and virtual Mastercard “Idube” cards to team members. These come built with real-time spend tracking, multi-layered approval workflows, and instant card freezing to prevent fraud or accidental charges.
- Automations: Manza automates manual financial tasks. It allows founders to create and track invoices, separate personal and business expenses, and seamlessly integrate existing accounting, payroll, and CRM software.
- Cash Flow Visibility: The centralised dashboard gives entrepreneurs a clear overview of expected revenues and ongoing expenses, helping them make data-backed adjustments on the go.
Why SMEs Need Platforms Like Manza
Beyond immediate administrative relief, capturing every financial signal digitally builds a verifiable transaction history. Because traditional lenders frequently reject micro-enterprises due to rigid collateral rules, centralised data pipelines allow fintech platforms and partner organisations to deploy modern risk-scoring algorithms. Maintaining a clean, digital ledger is ultimately what shifts an SME from a state of survival to one that is ready to absorb investments and expand.
Additionally, small teams need a safe way to distribute spending power without losing control. Through specialised corporate card integrations (like Manza’s physical and virtual Idube cards on the Mastercard network), owners can allocate cards to employees instantly.
