African FinTech Flutterwave has begun offering pay-by-bank transfers through a partnership with Token.io.
“Our partnership with Token.io will make it even faster and easier for individuals and businesses to pay and receive money,” Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola said in a Tuesday (June 6) news release.
“By partnering with Token.io to provide Account-to-Account payments to our customers, Flutterwave will advance its mission of connecting Africa to the global economy,” he added.
The release notes that pay by bank (also known as account-to-account, or A2A, payments), let users quickly and securely move money between accounts, without registration or “error-prone” data entry.
In addition, the companies said, these payments provide merchants with more cost savings and improved cash flow compared to traditional payment methods.
“We’re confident that Token.io’s infrastructure will help Flutterwave offer its customers a more comprehensive payment solution, with A2A payments being a key part of this for UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa corridors,” said Todd Clyde, CEO of Token.
“This partnership underscores our commitment to enabling payment providers to grow with open banking powered A2A payments, which are projected to exceed 6.5 billion in annual global volumes by 2027.”
This partnership follows one announced last week by Mastercard and FinTech firm Dapi to provide A2A payments in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Dapi launching the payments via Mastercard Payment Gateway Services.
“This is a significant milestone for the open banking agenda and the regional payment landscape, and our strategic alliance with Mastercard fortifies our influence in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region, driving financial inclusion and ensuring a sustainable and inclusive digital economy for all,” Dapi Co-founder Ihsan Al Hayek said in a news release.
This is happening at a time when the worldwide remittance market — where hundreds of billions of dollars flow across borders per year — is being refashioned by digital disruption.
Late last year, the World Bank concluded that remittances last year rose by 5% to $626 billion. These payments, generally speaking, are a crucial source of funds for workers and other individuals sending funds home to friends and family.
And with 1.4 billion adults remaining unbanked, according to World Bank estimates, the movement of money needs to transcend what might be considered traditional avenues — in other words, bank accounts.
“In recent months, we’ve seen some shifts in the industry, where technology has propelled cross-border solutions more fully into the digital age, and in many cases away from the brick-and-mortar settings where agents receive cash on one end of the transaction, redeemed in cash in another country,” PYMNTS wrote last month.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
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