About Us | Circle Bridge

22+

Years of Expertise

Our Mission

Strengthening Financial Position Across Markets

At Circle Bridge (Pty) Ltd, our mission is to strengthen our clients' financial position and drive bottom-line results by providing expert business and management consulting that transforms operational challenges into quantifiable, sustainable gains.

✓ Specialist consultancy with deep payments sector expertise
✓ Serving Payment Facilitators, ISOs, Fintechs & Financial Institutions
✓ Strong network across the European Union and Africa
✓ Tailored solutions aligned to every client's unique brief
✓ Committed to delivering measurable, sustainable results

What We Stand For

Our Core Values

The principles that guide every engagement and define how we work with our clients.

Results-Driven

Every strategy we develop is anchored in measurable outcomes. We focus on delivering quantifiable results that directly strengthen your bottom line.

True Partnership

We work alongside our clients as true partners — investing in your success, understanding your unique challenges, and staying committed through every phase.

Deep Expertise

With over a decade in the payments sector, we bring unmatched domain knowledge covering strategy, compliance, operations, and fintech innovation.

Global Reach

Our extensive network spans the European Union and Africa — connecting clients with the right institutions, providers, and opportunities wherever they operate.

How We Work

Our Engagement Approach

A structured, transparent process designed to deliver results at every stage of the engagement.

01

Discover

We begin with a thorough understanding of your organisation — your goals, challenges, market position, and the specific outcomes you need to achieve.

02

Strategise

We develop a tailored roadmap built around your brief — drawing on sector expertise, network insights, and proven methodologies to chart the right path forward.

03

Deliver

We execute with precision and accountability — tracking progress, reporting transparently, and ensuring every initiative translates into measurable business value.

Our People

Meet the Team

The specialists behind Circle Bridge — combining decades of payments expertise with deep market knowledge across Africa, Europe, and beyond.

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Edward Stiles

Managing Director

A finance professional with a decade of hands-on experience across foreign exchange, cryptocurrency, and property investment, operating at the intersection of traditional finance and emerging markets.

With over five years in FX, he has built expertise spanning personal trading through to the structuring of hedging solutions for agricultural businesses across South Africa — enabling clients to navigate currency volatility and protect their margins with confidence.

Since entering the cryptocurrency space in 2018, he has progressed into advisory and brokerage work at an institutional level, consulting on large-scale projects with banks and financial firms across the African continent, establishing a reputation as a trusted operator in Africa’s evolving digital asset landscape.

His property experience spans the UK market, where he spent two years sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities across residential, commercial, and social housing sectors, developing a disciplined approach to deal analysis and asset selection.

Grounded in accounting fundamentals — holding a Bachelor of Accounting from Varsity College — and shaped by a global education, he combines analytical rigour with entrepreneurial instinct, bringing both precision and conviction to every transaction.

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Grant Mackenzie

Specialist Consultant

Grant Mackenzie brings 20+ years of senior payments and banking experience across Africa and the Middle East. His career spans Visa International (Country Director, Mauritius and Sub-Saharan Africa), Transaction Capital (4,500-ATM network across Africa), State Bank of Mauritius, CEO of Dubai-based E-Stablisher Global Connections, and most recently Absa Bank — where he served as Head of Acquiring and ATM across 9 markets and 10 banks — before leaving to found Circle Bridge, dedicated to helping African banks reach their true payments potential.

Deep expertise across card acquiring, ATM networks, e-commerce, mobile payments, scheme partnerships, and regulatory compliance — including UnionPay, JCB, mobile commerce rollouts, and hands-on experience in AML frameworks, FATF compliance, and FATCA reporting obligations.

Educated at IMM (BBA, E-Commerce), Visa’s International Card Business School at Cambridge, the Executive Management Programme at IARB, Surrey, Financial Modelling & Analytics at the University of Cape Town, and holds a Certified Bitcoin Professional (CBP) licence from the C4 Crypto Consortium — positioning Circle Bridge at the intersection of traditional payments and digital asset rails.

The Payments Specialists Driving Real Financial Results