Flutterwave Taps Flywire For Cross-Border Payments In Africa

Flywire, a provider of global payment and receivables solutions for education, healthcare, and business, announced Tuesday (March 20) that it has inked a new deal with Flutterwave, a payments API that makes it easier for banks and businesses to process payments across Africa.

In a press release announcing the partnership, Flywire said it will integrate Flutterwave’s Rave payment platform as the preferred option for students, patients and businesses in Nigeria who are making cross-border payments on the platform. According to Flywire, Nigeria is a good market for cross-border payments and is the leading source for international students and patients from Africa, with around 15,000 Nigerians studying at colleges and universities in the U.K. during the 2016-2017 school year. What’s more, 10,000 more studied in the U.S., contributing an estimated $301 million to the economy. Citing the World Bank, Flywire said Nigerians spend $1 billion a year on medical treatment abroad and have thriving global trade, exporting close to $35 billion worth of goods and services every year. Nigeria imports more than $30 billion of goods and services, noted Flywire.  “Nigeria can be a very complex foreign exchange environment,” said Mike Massaro, CEO at Flywire. “Together with Flutterwave, we’re removing a lot of that complexity and providing a more seamless payment experience for international students, patients, and businesses. Nigerians will now have the convenience of being able to make digital, cross-border payments in their local currency, through eBank transfers, credit/debit cards, and mobile payments. Our partnership will also streamline the reconciliation of these payments on the receiving end for schools, hospitals and businesses.”

With Flywire’s platform businesses, educational institutions and healthcare providers can offer customers international payments that are customized by country, currency or industry. Flutterwave provides the payment technology and infrastructure to make process payments to and from Africa happen with one API integration.

“Despite the billions of dollars being invested in international education, healthcare and business goods and services by Africans every year, the payment process remains complex and slow, with too much paperwork, and costly information gaps,” said Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder and CEO, Flutterwave. “Our partnership with Flywire makes it possible for people in Nigeria and all across Africa to make these investments more confidently and hassle-free. We are very proud to partner with Flywire to enable more Africans to become citizens of the world.”