• Deon Nobrega co-founded Paymenow Group in 2019 to reduce employee reliance on high-cost credit.

• The company offers earned wage access, digital vouchers and financial education tools.

• Nobrega previously held senior roles at Investec and Absa before launching the fintech venture.

Deon Nobrega serves as Chief Executive Officer of Paymenow Group, a company he co-founded in 2019 with Bryan Habana, Willem van Zyl, Gerry Potgieter and Garth Mackintosh. The firm provides a financial wellness solution for employees that combines technology and financial education to improve income management.

Paymenow Group develops a mobile application and an online platform that help employees manage their budgets, reduce reliance on credit and strengthen financial stability. Users can check their available balance, request salary advances and track transactions in real time. Users can also purchase essential goods such as food and electricity through vouchers, which allow them to cover basic needs without resorting to costly borrowing.

The platform promotes responsible money management through savings tools and options that allow users to place funds in interest-bearing accounts. The company also delivers financial literacy training modules, interactive educational content and personalized support to help employees adopt sound financial habits and build long-term financial resilience.

Deon Nobrega earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2003 from the University of Johannesburg. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the same university in 2004. He later completed an introductory course in big data in 2016 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Nobrega began his professional career in 2004 at HLB-NGA, a South African software design and deployment company, where he worked as a software engineer. He joined Investec in 2006 as a business analyst in information technology. He moved to Absa Group in 2008 in the same role. He rose through the ranks at Absa, becoming Head of Foreign Exchange Sales in 2012 and Head of Digital Markets in 2015.

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange J.A de Berry Quenum