The deal combines Leatherback’s cross-border payments technology with Zedcrest’s financial services expertise and is expected to support the fintech firm’s international expansion across Africa, Europe and North America.

Building on the partnership between both companies following Zedcrest’s initial investment in Leatherback in 2021, the acquisition brings together one of Africa’s leading financial services groups with a fast-growing payments platform that has built a reputation for simplifying international payments for individuals and businesses across multiple markets. 

With Leatherback’s technology and product innovation, as well as Zedcrest’s institutional expertise, governance, capital strength, and long-term investment capacity, the businesses are well positioned to accelerate the next phase of Leatherback’s growth while expanding access to seamless global financial services.

Since its launch, Leatherback has evolved into a trusted platform enabling customers to send, receive, convert, and manage money across multiple currencies through a single digital experience. The platform helps people and businesses move money across borders, and has continued to expand its reach while building a reputation for reliability, speed, and innovation.

Marking the beginning of a new phase in Leatherback’s journey, the company will continue to build on the strong foundation it has established, having recently opened its West African hub in Nigeria from its London global headquarters. The company is also making plans to open its North American hub in Canada and its East African Hub in Kenya in the coming quarters.

Leatherback will continue to invest in its operations, governance and team over the coming months, reinforced by Zedcrest Group’s institutional strength and long-term capital commitment. This continued investment is intended to support the platform’s reliability and growth as it serves customers and partners across all its markets. 

The business will continue to be led by its existing leadership team, providing continuity for customers, partners, and employees while benefiting from the enhanced governance, institutional strength, and long-term strategic support of Zedcrest Group. As the company enters its next phase of growth, customers can expect the same trusted service and relationships, delivered with even stronger institutional backing.

Adedayo Amzat, group managing director, Zedcrest Group, said, “This acquisition represents far more than an expansion of our portfolio. It reflects our conviction that the future of financial services will be shaped by technology, global connectivity, and institutional trust. Leatherback has built an impressive platform that addresses real challenges in cross-border payments, and we see significant opportunities to accelerate that journey through the strength of the Zedcrest ecosystem.

Ochebhoya Ekpete, chief executive officer, Leatherback, said, “This marks an exciting new chapter for Leatherback. We have built a business focused on solving real challenges in global payments, and this transaction positions us to build on that foundation with even greater scale, capability, and long-term vision.

For our customers and partners, our commitment remains unchanged. They can continue to expect the same reliable service and seamless experience they know us for, while we continue investing in innovation, strengthening our capabilities, and expanding the opportunities we create for them across global markets.”

This represents another significant milestone in Zedcrest Group’s growth journey, reinforcing its commitment to building globally relevant businesses across investment banking, asset management, securities, financing, and financial technology. For Leatherback, it provides a stronger institutional platform to pursue its long-term ambitions while remaining focused on delivering simple, secure, and innovative financial solutions for customers around the world.

The post Zedcrest Group Completes Acquisition of Leatherback to Expand Global Fintech Business appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The Series B1 funding round was led by Halo Fund, co-founded by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney, with other investors including Portage Ventures, Wellington, Crosslink Capital, 53 Stations, Titanium Ventures, Spice, Florida Funders and several others.

The latest investment comes just six months after Flex raised $60 million in its Series B round in December 2025. Since then, the company said its annualised revenue has tripled as demand for its services grew.

With the new funding, Flex has raised a total of $180 million in equity and $300 million in debt. The company also plans to increase its workforce from 110 employees to more than 200 before the end of the year.

At the same time, Flex introduced Flex Global, a new platform designed for business owners who operate across several countries and currencies.

The service supports stablecoin payment rails and digital wallets in more than 100 countries, allowing cross-border payments to settle within minutes.

It also offers institutional US dollar accounts for foreign business owners, multi-currency accounts across 76 countries supporting 32 currencies, private credit services in more than 20 countries, and business cards that work across multiple entities and markets.

Zaid Rahman, chief executive officer and founder of Flex, said many business owners struggle because existing financial services separate their personal and business finances.

“Middle-market business owners are one of the most important and underserved customers in finance globally. Depending on the type of owner, they’ll tell you their vendors are spread across the US, Poland, Brazil, etc; their accounts hold currency outside of just USD; and they have to oscillate across 2-3 vendors and layers of fees just to do business outside their country.”

According to the company, about 350,000 high-net-worth business owners in the United States account for around 40% of private-sector payroll.

Globally, it estimates there are roughly three million business owners managing operations across multiple countries, currencies and legal jurisdictions.

Ryan Smith, co-founder of Halo Fund and owner of the Utah Jazz and Utah Mammoth, said Flex is addressing a long-standing gap in financial services.

“I’ve spent my career helping entrepreneurs win, and they all have the same problem: their business and personal financial lives are completely intertwined, but every bank treats them as two different customers, missing what they’re actually trying to build. 

“Flex is the first team creating a real private bank around the owner and the entire household’s finances, and the gap they’re filling is just as real globally as it is in the US. Zaid and the team have built an enduring business that is becoming an institution for the world’s most ambitious owners.”

Flex said its platform has now surpassed $10 billion in annualised payment volume, representing roughly fourfold growth over the past year.

The company added that the average customer now uses at least four products on its platform, while its largest customer groups include construction firms, wholesale businesses and multinational companies.

Flex believes demand for faster international payments has increased as stablecoin infrastructure has become more widely adopted for business transactions.

Instead of asking customers to manage digital wallets, Flex said it hides the technology in the background, allowing business owners to make international payments in much the same way as domestic transfers.

Beyond payments, Flex plans to continue expanding its banking, private credit, treasury, travel, mortgage and rewards card services as it builds a single financial platform for business owners operating across global markets.

The post Flex Raises $70 Million to Expand Global Banking Platform for Business Owners appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

With the integration, Shopify merchants can accept widely used Indian payment options, including Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and NetBanking, through a single connection to Payfuture’s payment app.

The goal is to make it easier for international merchants to serve Indian customers without having to build separate payment systems for the market.

India is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets globally. Its online retail sector is projected to reach between $150 billion and $170 billion by 2027, driven by increasing smartphone use and strong consumer preference for local digital payment platforms.

Commenting on the integration Shopify, Manpreet Haer, Payfuture CEO and co-founder, said it would remove limitations for merchants looking to enter the Indian market.

“This integration makes digital commerce more accessible, scalable, and locally optimised for global merchants in fast-growth markets. India is a vital market for ecommerce growth, and our infrastructure makes it easier for merchants to reach local buyers while maintaining compliance and operational efficiency.”

The company’s Shopify integration aligns with its vision to strengthen local payment access through major ecommerce platforms, as it focuses on investing in payment infrastructure and regional capabilities to support merchants expanding into India and other fast-growing markets.

Haer said the company’s goal is to help businesses operate more effectively in markets that are often difficult to enter.

“Our role is to help global merchants operate like locals in markets that are often difficult to access. The Shopify integration allows us to bring that vision to life in one of the most important commerce ecosystems in the world.”

The post Payfuture Integrates With Shopify to Enable Local Payments for Merchants in India appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

How quickly can money move from one account to another? How many transfers can a payment switch process in a day? How fast can a customer receive funds?

The focus on speed transformed banking, with instant transfers becoming normal, fintechs flourishing and digital payments expanding rapidly across the country.

However, that speed created its own blind spot. A transaction worth ₦10 million could move through the financial system carrying little information; the amount, an account number and a short narration. That’s all.

Regulators saw it, with banks processing it and fraud systems scanning it, but nobody could fully understand the back-end operations behind it.

That is now changing.

As Nigeria implements the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Payment System Vision (PSV) 2028, adopts ISO 20022 standards and transitions towards the National Payment Stack (NPS), faster payments aren’t the only focus anymore.

We may see the arrival of richer transaction data that gives financial institutions, regulators and businesses a clearer picture of what money is doing, where it is going and why it is moving.

The transition comes at a critical moment.

Nigeria recently secured its exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, a milestone that pointed to the confidence in the country’s financial management. The challenge now is proving that the progress is sustainable.

According to Tolu Adetuyi, chief information officer at Prembly, the reforms are much bigger than a technical upgrade.

“When you look at what CBN is actually envisioning for 2028, it means that we are truly serious about building a modern sovereign financial infrastructure.”

His point is noteworthy, as conversation around the reforms has largely focused on data localisation and where payment information should be stored. But then, that discussion lies a deeper structural change. Nigeria is redesigning the information layer of its financial system.

In simple terms, payments are evolving from instructions into intelligence.

“The past decade has simply been about us just moving money faster,” Adetuyi said. “And I think these new changes are ensuring we move money in the correct way, and in the correct format.”

That distinction can’t be ignored.

Under older payment systems, institutions worked with fragmented information. Fraud teams relied heavily on transaction amounts and limited customer records, while compliance officers pulled information from multiple systems before producing regulatory reports.

Investigators, on the other hand, frequently spent valuable time trying to identify the parties behind suspicious transactions.

ISO 20022 changes that equation by introducing significantly richer payment messages. “That message is beautiful enough to be able to tell a story,” Adetuyi explained.

Instead of seeing only a transaction value, financial institutions can access a bigger context. They can identify the sender, understand the recipient, determine whether the transaction involves an individual, business or institution, and see how the payment has been categorised.

“If making payment for salary, the narration has to be salary. If making payment for goods and services, that should be clearly indicated that this is goods and services.”

The result is a payment ecosystem that understands context rather than just recording movement. That context could completely enhance fraud prevention.

Today, many fraud systems still depend on regulations built around transaction thresholds and basic behavioural patterns. A large transaction may trigger an alert simply because of its size, whole legitimate payments usually get caught in the same net, creating expensive false positives and operational delays.

Adetuyi believes richer transaction data changes the dynamic.

“Even these entities should not be using this kind of amount of money in the first place.”

Rather than focusing solely on the value of a transaction, institutions can analyse whether the transaction makes sense within the broader profile of the customer and recipient.

The impact goes beyond detecting fraud, as it also improves efficiency. “As your fraud team and compliance team spend a whole lot of time just resolving transactions that shouldn’t have been flagged in the first place.”

With better context, fewer legitimate transactions should be wrongly flagged, allowing institutions to focus resources on genuinely suspicious activity.

The compliance implications may be even greater. Many financial institutions, anti-money laundering processes are quite labour-intensive. Teams usually pull information from multiple systems before generating Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs).

Under the new framework, much of that work becomes more structured. “STR reports should not be something you would have to start pulling data from different platforms. You should just click a button and you generate it.”

This capability arrives at a particularly important time, when Nigeria’s removal from the FATF grey list reduced a major reputational burden.

But Adetuyi says staying off that list will depend on demonstrating effective oversight and high-quality reporting.

One of the strongest points he makes is that global confidence is built on evidence, not promises. “If anything, it’s just that we need to do more and ensure that we get better.”

He argues that richer payment data can strengthen the quality of information submitted to regulators and international bodies.

“When they see the information, they see that it is sophisticated, it is quality, then they inform the perception on the global world.”

In other words, better payment intelligence does not only improve compliance, it can influence how Nigeria is perceived by international financial institutions, correspondent banks and investors.

The Payment System Vision 2028 and other reforms also extend beyond Nigeria’s borders. As the National Payment Stack aligns with ISO 20022 and integrates with initiatives such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), Nigeria is positioning itself within a bigger continental payments network.

“I think Nigeria’s payment reforms are not just like a domestic story. I think it’s more of a gateway story.”

If successful, the reforms could make it easier for African countries to exchange payments directly, reduce dependence on intermediary currencies and lower the cost of cross-border transactions.

That vision, however, comes with challenges.

Large banks must modernise decades-old infrastructure, smaller institutions are facing funding limitations, fintechs must navigate compliance obligations and potential increases in local infrastructure costs, while data localisation itself is still an area where industry participants want clearer regulatory guidance.

“The interest is right, the goal is right. But again, there’s need for a lot more refinement.”

That balance between vision and execution may determine whether the reforms succeed. We have the technology and the policy direction is very clear. Nonetheless, the issue is the difficult work of implementation.

Adetuyi believes the destination is worth the effort. He envisions a financial system where most transactions are digital, structured and machine-readable, allowing institutions to understand not just that money moved, but why it moved.

In such an environment, financial crime becomes significantly harder because data quality is stronger, compliance processes are more effective and suspicious activity is easier to identify.

Risk premiums associated with weak oversight can also begin to decline, making Nigeria a more attractive destination for investment and cross-border business.

For Adetuyi, the long-term opportunity goes beyond compliance. He points to countries such as Singapore as examples of how strong financial infrastructure can become a competitive advantage for an economy.

In his view, Nigeria has the potential to build a financial system where compliance infrastructure evolves into a major industry rather than an afterthought, where talent development and regulatory enforcement are implemented with empathy and consistency, and where businesses can engage global markets with greater ease and confidence.

Achieving that vision will require sustained investment, collaboration and refinement, but it provided a glimpse of what the end of the transition could look like; a more trusted, efficient and globally connected financial system.

The challenge now is turning policy into results. “International bodies will not judge Nigeria by its plans, but by its outcomes,” Adetuyi said.

That may ultimately be the defining test of Payment Vision 2028, not whether Nigeria can move money faster, but whether it can build a smarter, more transparent and globally competitive financial system.

The post From FATF Grey List Exit to Payment Intelligence: Tolu Adetuyi on How PVS 2028, ISO 20022 and National Payment Stack Could Reshape Nigeria’s Financial System appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This resulted from households and small firms looking for faster and cheaper ways to pay and receive funds.

The IMF says this transition has moved beyond early crypto users. It is now a payment channel in Nigeria’s financial system, even if it’s still outside traditional banking rails.

Between July 2023 and June 2024, Nigeria recorded about $59 billion in crypto inflows. That placed the country among the most active crypto markets globally.

The IMF also notes that Nigeria accounts for roughly 60% of stablecoin inflows in sub-Saharan Africa since 2019.

A smartphone and internet connection are usually enough to receive remittances or send payments abroad within minutes. Costs are also lower in many cases when compared with bank-led transfers.

The World Bank estimates that sending $200 to sub-Saharan Africa costs about 9% of the transaction value on average. That compares with a global average of around 6%. Stablecoins have become a cheaper alternative in some of these flows.

On the domestic side, the naira weakened through 2023 and 2024, while inflation stayed high. At the same time, access to foreign exchange was tight. Many users turned to dollar-pegged assets as a way to protect value or pay overseas suppliers.

When the Central Bank of Nigeria restricted banks from servicing crypto exchanges in 2021, activity moved further into peer-to-peer platforms and informal digital channels.

What started as small-scale crypto trading now overlaps with everyday financial needs, especially payments and savings in foreign currency terms.

Looking at the benefits, transfers move faster, costs can fall, and access improves for people outside formal banking systems. Small businesses also use stablecoins to settle cross-border trade more quickly.

However, the IMF warns that broad use of dollar-pegged tokens can weaken the role of the naira. When more value moves into dollar-based digital assets, domestic monetary policy becomes less effective in influencing real economic activity.

There are also issues around oversight. Transactions pass through digital wallets and crypto platforms that do not always fall under traditional banking supervision. That makes it harder for regulators to track flows in real time.

Financial integrity risks cannot be overlooked. Faster and less transparent channels can create space for illicit transactions, even if most users are acting within the law.

These challenges are not unique to Nigeria, but the scale of adoption here makes them more visible.

Policy responses are already taking shape. The Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria has introduced policies for virtual asset service providers, while the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued guidance on how banks should interact with crypto-related firms.

The IMF suggests that regulation alone will not be enough. It recommends a stronger approach that keeps innovation open but reduces risk.

One priority is macroeconomic stability. A stronger and more predictable naira would reduce the need for dollar-linked alternatives in the first place.

Another is better supervision. Transparent regulations for stablecoin issuers, aligned with frameworks emerging in places such as the European Union, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States, could help close regulatory gaps while still allowing innovation.

Data collection is also a gap. Regulators need better insight into how stablecoins move through the system, especially where they convert into naira or interact with local banks.

Finally, on payment infrastructure, Nigeria has made progress with instant payment systems and regional efforts like the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System. Still, gaps in cross-border transfers still push users toward alternative digital routes.

Stablecoins are unlikely to replace traditional finance. They are instead filling gaps that already exist in cross-border payments.

The post Nigeria Sees Surge in Stablecoin Use as IMF Flags Policy Risks appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The financial infrastructure company has launched Bitnob Enterprise, a non-custodial infrastructure platform designed to banks, fintechs, treasury teams and other institutions build digital asset products while maintaining control of their custody architecture, governance and risk-management systems.

The new platform allows organisations to access Bitnob’s wallet, payment, treasury, settlement, and blockchain infrastructure without transferring custody of assets to the company.

Bitnob launched publicly in 2021 as a consumer Bitcoin app. Over time, the infrastructure built to power its own products attracted growing interest from businesses, leading the company to increasingly focus on wallets-as-a-service, payments, stablecoin settlement, collections, payouts, and card infrastructure. Today, more than $4.5 billion has moved through its infrastructure.

As adoption grew, Bitnob saw customer needs split. Some wanted a managed platform that removed operational complexity and accelerated time to market. Others wanted to own the parts of the business that define them, such as custody, key management, risk, and governance. Bitnob Enterprise was built for the second group.

“The next generation of financial institutions won’t outsource the things that define them, including how assets are secured, how risk is managed, how their customers are served,” said Bernard Parah, Founder and CEO of Bitnob. “Enterprise gives them the infrastructure layer underneath Bitnob without asking them to give up control.”

Enterprise supports non-custodial deployment, including external key management through HSMs, AWS KMS, and third-party signing systems.

Customers run their own treasury controls, approval workflows, transaction policies, compliance and security frameworks while leveraging Bitnob for wallets, blockchain connectivity, treasury operations, stablecoin settlement, and embedded financial services.

The platform is built for banks, regulated financial institutions, fintechs, treasury teams, and developers building infrastructure-intensive financial products.

For organisations entering the market, Enterprise is a path to launch digital asset products without spending years building blockchain infrastructure internally. For larger institutions, it is a way to add digital asset capabilities to existing compliance and operational environments while keeping control of customer relationships and internal governance.

Alongside Enterprise, Bitnob is introducing major upgrades to Bitnob Business, its managed platform first launched in 2022. The updated platform adds enhanced stablecoin swap capabilities including USDT-to-USDC conversion, off-ramp coverage across more than 110 countries, and a growing base of on-ramp coverage.

Together, the two products offer two ways into the same infrastructure: a managed platform for businesses that prioritise simplicity and speed, and an infrastructure layer for organisations that prioritise ownership and control.

The launch comes as businesses increasingly adopt stablecoin infrastructure for treasury, cross-border payments, and supplier settlement, and as institutions look to participate without compromising their existing governance, security, and operational requirements.

Bitnob Business and Bitnob Enterprise are available free beginning today. For more information, visit website or schedule a call with the sales team

About Bitnob

Founded in 2020, Bitnob is a financial infrastructure company helping businesses build, move, and manage money globally.

Through APIs and managed infrastructure, Bitnob powers wallets-as-a-service, payments, treasury operations, stablecoin settlement, card programs, collections, payouts, and embedded financial services for businesses across global markets.

The post Bitnob Launches Enterprise: Non-Custodial Infrastructure for Institutions appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Designed to enable businesses collect funds in naira or stablecoins and send payouts to the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria, the new system handles foreign exchange conversion instantly and locks in rates at the point of transaction.

For years, operators in this space have had to manage cash on two fronts. They collect in naira, then look for foreign currency elsewhere, while also keeping reserves ready for payouts. That process ties down capital and slows transactions.

Nomba says its new API removes that limitation by merging collection, conversion and disbursement into one flow. Once funds enter the system, either in naira or stablecoins such as USDT or USDC, conversion happens immediately and the payout begins without delay.

“Running a cross-border payments business from Nigeria has meant managing frozen liquidity on two fronts at the same time,” said Yinka Adewale, CEO, Nomba.

“Operators collect naira, then go source foreign currency, all while their customers are waiting. We built this API to collapse that operational complexity into a single transaction flow, and to give operators who want to remove naira exposure entirely the option to fund in stablecoins.”

Outlining how the payout routes work, the company noted that transfers to the UK go through Faster Payments, with settlement taking between one and three hours.

In Europe, SEPA transfers are completed in under one hour, while Canada supports Interac for instant transfers alongside bank payments. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, users can send money through mobile money or bank transfers, both processed instantly. Nigeria, meanwhile, is the base corridor.

Another feature is a five-minute exchange rate lock. This ensures the rate a customer sees at the start of a transaction stays the same at settlement, reducing disputes and unexpected losses.

The launch comes at a time when cross-border payments in Africa are expensive. On average, sending $200 costs about 7.9%, one of the highest rates globally. At the same time, stablecoins are gaining ground.

They now account for a large share of crypto transactions in sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria alone handling billions of dollars in volume over the past year.

On the regulatory aspect, Nigeria’s tax policies treat foreign exchange conversions, service fees and digital charges as taxable events since the start of 2026. This is forcing payment companies to build systems that can handle compliance automatically.

Nomba, which started in 2016 as Kudi, has moved from agency banking into payment infrastructure. In 2025, it processed N122 billion across 1.85 million transactions. Its virtual accounts now account for most of its API activity.

With the new Global Payout API, Nomba is targeting a long-standing problem in the market, cutting out the need to hold funds in multiple currencies at once. The company is ensuring payment firms can move faster and operate with less capital tied up.

The post Nomba Launches Global Payout API to Simplify Cross-Border Payments for Nigerian Businesses appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This completes a leadership shake-up at the Kenyan fintech as it strives to grow across Africa.

Makarem joins from Agoda, where he served as global CFO and oversaw a payments network handling more than $12 billion in transactions each year.

He has worked on multi-currency systems and high-volume payment operations, areas that are important to Cellulant’s business.

His appointment comes weeks after Michael Muriuki was named chief product and technology officer. Together, both hires fill key roles at a time when the company is rebuilding its leadership team after several exits.

Cellulant processes over 4.5 million transactions daily and operates in more than 20 African markets. It turned a profit in 2024 and is now looking to expand further as digital payments continue to grow across the continent.

Speaking on the appointment, Peter O’Toole, Cellulant chief executive said, “Darren Makarem doesn’t just understand the numbers; he understands the customer. He will leverage these insights to build a finance centre of excellence, ensuring our financial operations are as innovative, agile, and customer-centric as our products.”

Before Agoda, Makarem worked at Binance as regional CFO for Asia-Pacific and Latin America. He later led OnRamp as chief executive. Those roles gave him exposure to digital assets and evolving payment systems.

Now at Cellulant, he is expected to focus on financial discipline and support the company’s expansion into cross-border payments.

He said, “What excites me about Cellulant is the quality of what has already been built. My priority is to ensure the business has the financial discipline, insight, and operational support to move fast, stay bold, and keep delivering.”

Cellulant is aiming to take a larger share of Africa’s digital payments market, which is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.

The company is also competing with other fintech firms and banks that are building their own payment systems for large business clients.

The post Cellulant Appoints Darren Makarem as CFO to Drive Pan-African Payments Growth appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The fintech platform, powered entirely by stablecoins, is designed to address long-standing challenges faced by freelancers, remote workers, students, and travellers across the continent.

Speaking on the limitations of traditional banking systems for Africans with cross-border income streams, Ayo Adewuyi, Pouchers’ CEO, said,

“Many people we spoke with were constantly frustrated by blocked cards, slow transfers, and unexpected declines. We wanted to build a system that works the way users actually live: across time zones, across currencies, and across platforms.”

Pouchers enables users to create up to three virtual cards, including standard Visa and Mastercard options and a premium card compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay. According to the Pouchers’ team, this approach is aimed at improving global acceptance and reducing payment failures that many Africans encounter when transacting online with international platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, or flight booking services.

All transactions on Pouchers are powered by stablecoins, specifically USDT and USDC, providing faster settlement and shielding users from the volatility of local currencies.

“By integrating stablecoins from the ground up, we can offer more reliability and predictability for cross-border spending, something traditional rails often fail to provide,” Adewuyi added.

In addition to virtual cards, Pouchers is rolling out multi-currency bank accounts in USD, EUR, GBP, and CAD.

The accounts allow users to hold multiple currencies in one place and switch between them in seconds, eliminating the common uncertainty over which account should receive a particular payment.

Analysts note that cross-border financial services are a growing concern for African freelancers and digital nomads, with delays and blocked transactions costing both time and income. According to a 2020 Report by the Financial Stability Board, four key challenges facing cross-border payments are high costs; low speed; limited access, and limited transparency.

These factors are no less true today, especially for Africans, and Pouchers aims to address these inadequacies through a quiet, iterative approach focused on solving real problems.

“We didn’t want to launch with noise or hype,” Adewuyi explained. “Instead, we listened closely to our early users, understood their pain points, and built solutions that improve steadily over time. That approach earns trust naturally.”

By combining stablecoin infrastructure with multiple virtual cards and multi-currency accounts, the platform is positioning itself as a practical tool for Africans who live and work globally but are underserved by traditional financial systems.

As the African gig economy and remote work sectors continue to expand, solutions like Pouchers may become increasingly important in ensuring smooth, reliable, and efficient financial interactions across borders.

The post Cross-border Payments Should Reflect How Africans Actually Live and Work – Pouchers CEO appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The system removes the need for international card networks and reduces processing costs by as much as 80%. It is already live for selected merchants.

One of the early users is a Lagos-based skincare brand founded by a Nigerian entrepreneur. In 60 days, the company recorded hundreds of transactions across its store and online channels. Out of that figure, almost half the transactions came from UK customers paying in pounds.

Between December 10, 2025 and February 8, 2026, the brand received several thousand pounds from more than a hundred unique buyers in the UK. The business also recorded steady growth in its monthly GBP collections, showing high demand from customers abroad.

The entrepreneur said the system simplified how she manages payments across markets.

“Before Nomba, I was juggling Stripe for my UK customers, a separate POS provider for my Lagos store, and a different bank account for transfers,” she said.

“Now everything is in one place. My UK customers pay in pounds from their banking app, I see it instantly, and I can manage my entire business, Lagos and London, from one dashboard. It’s changed everything for me.”

Until now, many Nigerian businesses selling to UK customers relied on card payments processed through platforms such as Stripe.

Fees typically included 2.9% plus 30p for processing, a 1.5% cross-border charge, about 2% for currency conversion and roughly 0.5% to cover chargeback risks. In total, merchants could lose between 6.4 and 7.4% on each transaction.

On £5,522 in sales, that would amount to about £353 in fees.

Under the new arrangement between Nomba and Volume, payments move through the UK’s Faster Payments system using Open Banking.

Customers select bank transfer at checkout, choose their bank and authorise the payment in their banking app using biometric verification or a PIN. There are no card details involved and no chargebacks once payment is approved.

At roughly 1% processing cost, a brand would have paid about £55 on the same £5,522 volume. That means savings of around £298 in two months.

Nomba’s chief executive said the partnership aligns with the company’s goal.

“We built Nomba to give African businesses world-class financial infrastructure. When a customer can run her entire business, POS in Lagos, GBP collections from London, business banking, all of it, from a single platform, that’s the vision coming to life.

“Partnering with Volume to enable direct GBP bank collections means our merchants no longer lose 6–7% of their revenue just because their customers are in a different country.”

A senior executive at Volume added: “Volume’s mission is to make bank payments the default way to pay online. Seeing a Lagos-based beauty entrepreneur collect payments directly from UK bank accounts, with zero chargebacks and a fraction of the cost, is a powerful demonstration of Open Banking’s potential to reshape cross-border commerce.”

The United Kingdom hosts more than 1.5 million people of Nigerian descent. Many run businesses or buy products across both markets. For small brands, fees on cross-border card payments can limit growth.

With this integration with Volume, merchants can receive pounds directly into their Nomba GBP accounts, hold, convert or pay out the funds from the same dashboard used for their Nigerian operations.

For brands, it means one system for Lagos and one for London no longer applies. Everything now sits in one place.

The post Nomba Partners Volume to Cut UK Payment Costs for Nigerian Businesses by Up to 80% appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.