Serge Belamant

Serge Belamant is a French-born South African entrepreneur, inventor, and pioneer in financial technology and blockchain. Born in Tulle, France in 1953, he moved to South Africa in 1967. He founded NET1 UEPS Technologies in 1989, serving as Chairman and CEO until his retirement in 2017. Belamant is best known for designing the Universal Electronic Payment System (UEPS) and the Chip Offline Pre-authorized Card (COPAC) for VISA in 1995, which became the foundation for modern chip-enabled credit and debit cards. He holds patents for funds transfer systems and biometric authentication technologies. Under his leadership, NET1 scaled to a NASDAQ-listed company with a peak valuation exceeding $2 billion, managing South Africa's social welfare payment system for over 10 million beneficiaries. He currently serves as Non-Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Zilch Technology, bringing over 30 years of strategic leadership in payment technologies and financial inclusion.