E-Financial
Appzone Secures $10mn Series A Funding
Appzone, the Pan-African fintech software provider building proprietary solutions for the continent’s banking and payments industries, has today announced the close of its $10mn Series A round.
Led by CardinalStone Capital Advisers with participation from V8 Capital, Lateral Investment Partners, Constant Capital, and Itanna Capital Ventures, the new round will bolster investment in Appzone’s core technologies and kick off a wave of new country expansions in a drive to build out a financial operating system intended to completely digitise and automate the delivery of financial services on the continent.
Launched in 2008, Appzone delivers best-in-class products for digital core banking and interbank transaction processing with clients across seven African countries including high-profile names like Access Bank, GT Bank and Zenith Bank.
Since its inception, the company, also an alumnus of the Google launchpad accelerator, has led Africa’s fintech sector through radical innovation that resulted in a number of global firsts from the continent, including the world’s first decentralised payment processing network, the first core banking and omni-channel software on the cloud and the first multi-bank direct debit service based on single global mandates.
To date, the company’s platforms have served 18 commercial banks and over 450 microfinance banks, amassing a yearly transaction value and yearly loan disbursement of $2bn and $300mn respectively.
As Africa’s traditional banks and fintech startups grapple with the increasing threat from telco companies and big tech players, Appzone’s products effectively and affordably equip them to deal with the sector’s most pressing challenges including legacy cost structures and a major lack of operational efficiency.
Currently, due to a severe dearth of high-quality localised solutions that address these problems, traditional and challenger banks in Africa are limited to using foreign technology solutions tailored for Western markets – many of which are plagued with the huge stumbling blocks of prohibitive pricing, insufficient flexibility to innovate and a lack of local tech support.
Speaking on the fundraise, Appzone’s Co-Founder and CEO Obi Emetarom says: “We’re excited not only to be securing a significant capital raise, but also welcoming on board some strategic investors whose support will be key to our growth journey.
“Today’s news allows us to scale Appzone’s products and services rapidly. For the last 12 years, we’ve worked in stealth mode, building the really complex infrastructure to power the continent’s growing digital financial services space and forging partnerships with the continent’s biggest financial institutions.
In terms of next steps, we are now looking to hire from Africa’s top 1% to grow our team of elite talent who have proven themselves to be true African builders; the brightest senior software engineers and domain experts, doing the incredibly hard work of building the backbone and next generation infrastructure for digital financial services at a level beyond world-class.
We are seeking out gifted and audacious engineering and entrepreneurial minds, hungry to accelerate economic prosperity and tackle challenging technology with us. We are not just trying to bring African fintech on-par with the rest of the world – we exist to make our financial sector the most innovative and technologically advanced on the globe through solutions built for Africa by Africans.”
Currently, Appzone’s clients spread across Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Tanzania, Senegal and Guinea and to-date, the company has raised $15mn in equity funding with previous investors including Lateral Capital, GreenHouse Capital, Timon Capital and Itanna.
In 2018, the company obtained an officially approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and has been the recipient of a number of industry awards including the Frost & Sullivan Award, NAMB (National Association of Microfinance Banks) and CeBIH (Committee of eBusiness Industry Heads) awards.
Yomi Jemibewon, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Cardinal Stone Capital Advisers said: “Our investment in Appzone is further proof of Africa’s potential as the future hub of world class technology. Appzone is building a disruptive FinTech ecosystem that will be the backbone of Africa’s finance industry with products across payments, infrastructure and Software as a Service.
“The impact of Appzone’s work is multifold – the company’s products deepen financial inclusion across the continent whilst providing best-fit and low cost solutions to financial institutions. Its emphasis on premium talent also helps stem brain drain, rewarding Africa’s best brains with best in class employment opportunities.”
Despite its challenges, Africa’s banking sector is projected to reach a total market valuation of $129bn by 2022 according to McKinsey & Co. As the industry struggles to serve Africa’s huge unbanked population, there has been a growing influx of fintech platforms filling the gap. In recent years, these startups have attracted major interest from investors across the globe and in 2020, the sector accounted for over a third of the total $1.3bn in funding secured by African tech startups.
Nigerian banks have resumed international transactions on naira-denominated debit cards, marking a significant shift in banking operations for customers who rely on foreign payments.
This is coming nearly three years of suspension.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Wema Bank, in separate communications to their customers, announced the restoration of international payment services on their naira cards.
In a notice to its customers, UBA said the reactivation of international transactions on its premium naira cards aligns with its commitment to delivering improved and seamless banking experiences.
“We are pleased to inform you that all UBA Premium Naira Cards, including Gold, Platinum, and World variants, are now enabled for international transactions,” the bank stated.
“This means you can now use your Premium Naira Card for global payments — including online shopping, POS, and ATM transactions — with ease and flexibility. If you haven’t used your card recently, now is a great time to rediscover the convenience and prestige that comes with being a UBA premium cardholder.”
Similarly, Wema Bank announced that its customers can now make dollar payments on international platforms using their naira Mastercards.
“Your Wema Naira Mastercard just went global!” the bank said. “Now you can pay in dollars on all your favourite international platforms — Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Netflix, Spotify, YouTube.”
The development marks a major relief for Nigerian customers who have had to rely on dollar cards or alternative payment methods since most banks suspended international usage of naira cards in 2021 due to foreign exchange scarcity.
Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, today announced the relaunch of its flagship remittance solution, Send App, across U.S. states following its newly acquired Money Transmitter Licences (MTLs).
This comes after Flutterwave secured 20 additional MTLs in the U.S., adding to the 14 licenses the brand has held since 2023.
Altogether, this achievement raises Flutterwave’s total number of direct licenses to 34, allowing the company to operate across many U.S. states and territories without partners or intermediaries.
Users in the U.S. can now send money to Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt, unlocking new remittance corridors that were previously unavailable.
Alongside this expansion, the onboarding process has been streamlined with a quick ID check, making it faster and easier for new users to get started.
Additional improvements include optimised payment support for US-issued Visa and Discover cards, enhanced security measures to safeguard transactions and maintain compliance, and improved in-app flows for a simpler, more efficient sending experience.
This return also highlights Flutterwave’s commitment to delivering a seamless, secure, and regulatory-compliant user experience for all Send App customers in the U.S. Users can now send money from DC, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee.
Other U.S. states and territories where Send App by Flutterwave supports outward remittances include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Commenting on the relaunch, Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Flutterwave Founder and CEO, said, “By expanding our reach and enhancing our services, we are empowering millions of Africans in the U.S. to maintain strong financial ties with their home countries, support their families, and contribute to economic development across the continent. Additionally, we are staying true to our core mission of bridging Africa with the global economy and vice versa.”
Earlier this year, Flutterwave integrated Swap into Send App for seamless FX transactions and strengthened its services in Ghana by securing approval for inward remittance from the Bank of Ghana.
Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday affirmed the authority of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), to manage the Bank Verification Number (BVN), database across the country, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Act and other relevant banking laws.
This is according to a judgment delivered by Justice James Omotosho on Friday.
Wolemi Esan, senior advocate of Nigeria, NIBSS’s counsel, and Kofo Abdulsalam-Alada, lead counsel for the CBN, among others, had sought a restraining order to prevent any institution in Nigeria from challenging the agency’s statutory authority to maintain and manage the BVN database.
This comes as NIBSS had alleged that Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative filed multiple suits, either directly or through proxies, challenging its authority to manage the BVN database and claiming that such management violates constitutional privacy rights.
However, Justice Omotosho, delivering his judgment, said the BVN does not infringe on the constitutional right to privacy.
“The initiative does not infringe on the constitutional right to privacy but rather serves as a necessary tool for safeguarding public interest and enhancing financial security.
“NIBSS has the power to manage the BVN,” the judge said, citing relevant CBN laws.
“The court grants the reliefs of NIBSS as prayed,” he stated.
Nigerian Banks End Years of Embargo, Resume Intl Transactions on Naira Cards
Flutterwave Secures 20 more US Money Transmitter Licences
Court Affirms NIBSS Authority to Manage BVN
NIMC Says NIN Services Back Online
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