16 Sep Fintech Investment and Online Payments Developments Across Africa
With the pedestrian growth of payment systems in developed markets the focus has shifted to emerging markets like Africa in terms of fintech investment. Private equity and venture capital funds are investing in ventures related to payments and financial inclusion across the African continent. Smaller investments are going into ventures like mobile wallets and larger investments into building and consolidating infrastructure which is driving interoperability between countries, banks, payment channels and mobile monies. Africa has traditionally had a relatively fragmented payment system with banking infrastructure spanning only a country or two. Companies like Interswitch who originally focused on the Nigerian market and does most of the switching in that country bought and digested Paynet in Kenya, and have now expanded to Uganda to provide infrastructure for the banks including a generic and interoperable ATM system. Another example is Spenn who have recently linked up with I&M Bank to enable individual users to transfer money, request money from friends and family, and sell and pay for goods and services. Spenn started in Rwanda and Kenya, and according to a recent press release of theirs will expand the service to Tanzania, Mauritius, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. For an eCommerce company wanting to enter the African Market it can be quite challenging to be able to integrate to the most appropriate online payment systems for each country and payment method. The answer is to link to a Payment Service Provider (PSP) API that has a number of different online payment methods behind it and for them to collect the online payment proceeds which makes it a lot easier. African Payment Solutions is a local PSP and can provide multinational eCommerce companies with an aggregator solution for card through a single API, and the collection of Mobile Money like M-Pesa, Airtel Money and MTN Mobile Money through a single API, and repatriation of funds to the jurisdiction and currency of choice. Contact African Payment Solutions now for more info on getting paid online across Africa.