Global payments fintech company founded in Latin America, Ebanx is set to launch operations in Africa.
Having considered Africa to be a hotbed for digital payments and the digital market, the startup has made a move to tap into the booming Fintech space.
In Africa, Fintechs have so far attracted an outsized portion of funding, aided by an influx of new investors and larger average deal sizes.
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Soaring funding highlights growing confidence in Africa as investors and firms recognize the continent’s huge potential for fintech sector growth.
Ebanx is presently in 15 countries in Latin America and has so far processed over $1 billion in payments since its inception.
The startup company now wants to expand its operation of mobile money in Africa.
In a statement, the CEO and co-founder, João Del Valle, disclosed that although Africa’s digital economy is still developing, it has a lot of exciting potential that spurred the company to expand its operations in the region.
In his words; “Africa’s fast-growing digital economy is only in its early days, and it’s projected to grow up and to the right for the next few decades.
“Together with local players, EBANX will be a catalyst to realize the many benefits of a digital economy even faster.”
EBANX had already commenced operations in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria in late August, strategically expanding into these top three African countries because, altogether they account for 32% of the continent’s population, 51% of its GDP, and 73% of the startup accelerators active in Africa today.
The President of Global Payments at EBANX, Paula Bellizia said in a statement;
“Expanding our solutions to African countries speaks directly to EBANX’s mission of creating access, and having Pipefy as a merchant makes this moment even more special to us, expanding solutions and services throughout regions full of opportunities,”
“After studying the region and building a deep understanding of its local players, entities, and challenges, we are diving into Africa to provide local payments solutions that will help build the digital economy at a rapid pace, drive broader financial inclusion for its population, and provide greater access to a variety of goods and services from global merchants interested in building their market share there”.
Ebanx will also look to consider popular local payments in each of these countries it is expanding to.
In South Africa, it will let online shoppers access internet banking to make an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) that gets instantly verified. EFT is the second most popular online payment method in South Africa today.
In Kenya, it will offer a mobile banking service that lets users store and transfer money, as well as pay for online shopping through their mobile phones, much like M-Pesa.
In Nigeria, it will offer USSD and bank transfer services. The former will be a session-based protocol that travels over the GSM signaling channel to query information and trigger services and will enable customers to pay for their e-commerce shopping. The latter will enable customers to pay for online purchases quickly and easily without needing a credit or debit card.