Luno Relaunches Crypto Services in Kenya
Luno, a global cryptocurrency investment platform, has resumed operations in Kenya as part of its broader growth strategy on the continent.
The relaunch introduces a compliant and accessible means for Kenyans to buy, sell, and hold digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT.
Initially operating in Kenya between 2013 and 2014 under the name BitX, Luno now serves over 15 million users in more than 40 countries.
Read more: https://fintechnews.africa/45468/fintech-kenya/luno-crypto-relaunch-kenya-2025/
South African fintechs unite to simplify in-store instalment payments
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) provider Float has announced a strategic partnership with Adumo, a leading independent payment processor. The alliance will allow shoppers to split their in-store purchases into interest-free instalments using their existing credit cards, without the need to apply for new credit lines or accounts.
The partnership brings together Float’s digital BNPL platform with Adumo’s extensive in-store payment terminal network, which services over 50,000 merchants in South Africa. Through this collaboration, retailers can now offer instant instalment options at the point of sale, improving affordability for customers and potentially boosting basket sizes for businesses.
Read more: https://techpoint.africa/news/south-african-fintechs-simplify-payments/
AfCFTA to transform Africa’s 600m unbanked population — FG
The Federal GoveAfCFTA to transform Africa’s 600m unbanked population — FGBy Stellamaries Amuwa, Abuja The Federal Government, through the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, has stated that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will serve as a catalyst for transforming trade for Africa’s over 600 million unbanked citizens.
Speaking at the recent Aquarian Consult Afri-Caribbean Investment Summit in Abuja, Olusegun Awolowo, National Coordinator for AfCFTA, emphasized the critical role of digital payment systems in boosting cross-border trade across the continent.
He reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to maximizing the agreement’s potential by driving strategic investments in fintech and infrastructure. Represented by Olusegun Olutayo, Senior Trade Expert/Lead at the Nigeria AfCFTA Coordination Office, Awolowo highlighted how fintech firms could bridge Africa’s financial inclusion gap through mobile banking, blockchain, and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.
Read more: https://authorityngr.com/2025/06/24/afcfta-to-transform-africas-600m-unbanked-population-fg/
Until We Fix Cross-Border Payments, Africa’s Trade Dream is a Mirage
When Tola, a fashion entrepreneur in Lagos, tried to pay her supplier in Nairobi, she expected the transaction to be as smooth as ordering an Uber.
Instead, she had to convert naira to dollars, find a platform that supports Kenyan shillings, and pay a fee that could buy her enough fabric for five dresses. The payment took three days. Her supplier waited, her production halted, and a client order slipped through the cracks.
Multiply Tola’s experience by millions of entrepreneurs across 54 countries, and you begin to understand why intra-African trade remains stubbornly low despite decades of integration rhetoric. The cost is measured in lost opportunities, failed businesses, and an economic integration that exists more in PowerPoint presentations than in practice.
Read more: https://techeconomy.ng/until-we-fix-cross-border-payments-africas-trade-dream-is-a-mirage/
Chainlink and Mastercard partner to let cardholders buy crypto directly onchain
This breakthrough is powered by Chainlink’s secure interoperability infrastructure and Mastercard’s trusted global payments network, removing long-standing barriers that have kept mainstream users from accessing the onchain economy. zerohash provides the onchain service and liquidity needed to convert fiat into crypto with seamless smart contract execution. Additional integration support comes from Shift4 Payments, Swapper Finance, and XSwap to deliver a next generation app experience, which utilizes the Uniswap protocol.
As adoption of crypto assets continues to grow, collaborations like the one between Mastercard and Chainlink are helping drive a new wave of user-centric solutions that bridge the gap between crypto-native technology and real-world usability.
As adoption of crypto assets continues to grow, collaborations like the one between Mastercard and Chainlink are helping drive a new wave of user-centric solutions that bridge the gap between crypto-native technology and real-world usability.
EPI and EuroPA join forces in push for European payments sovereignty
The move signals an attempt to wrest control of the EU’s payments ecosystem away from US card schemes and Big Tech giants and secure the Bloc’s sovereignty in payments.
Bank-backed EPI launched its Wero digital wallet late last year, harnessing the potential of account-to-account (A2A) payments to help European banks take on the might of Visa and Mastercard.
EuroPA is an alliance established between Italy’s Bancomat, Spanish scheme Bizum and Portugal’s MB Way/Sibs designed to enable their 50 million users to send and receive money across borders instantly to mobile phone numbers. It has since added members, including Poland’s Blik, Greece’s Iris, and Nordic giant Vipps MobilePay.
