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Africa Fintech Spotlight

This fintech has a fix for the biggest cross-border payments issues in Francophone Africa

Until a few years ago, it used to be difficult to make payments across borders almost anywhere in the world. But it’s still a big problem in Africa, where fragmented, disconnected systems, high fees, and poor infrastructure make it tough for businesses and individuals to move money quickly and affordably.

The majority of people and businesses still rely on outdated agent networks or grapple with mobile wallet integrations. But there is tangible demand for cheaper and easier alternatives, particularly in underserved regions like Francophone Africa.

Ivorian fintech Cauridor is setting out to solve that, and it recently raised $3.5 million in seed funding to continue building its payment rails that let merchants, banks, telecom operators, and money transfer companies move funds in and out of Africa.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/29/cauridor-has-a-fix-for-cross-border-payments-issues-in-francophone-africa/ 


Nigeria’s LemFi acquires Irish fintech Bureau Buttercrane

LemFi, a remittance startup, has acquired Bureau Buttercrane, the Irish currency exchange platform.

In a statement on Wednesday, LemFi announced that it had obtained regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland to acquire Bureau Buttercrane.

The deal will enable Lemfi to use its Irish licence to operate across the European Economic Area (EEA) and unlock new growth opportunities.

Read more: https://www.thecable.ng/nigerias-lemfi-acquires-irish-fintech-bureau-buttercrane/ 


Uber-backed mobility fintech Moove acquires Brazil’s Kovi, takes ARR to $275M

Uber-backed Moove, an Africa-born mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers across six continents, has acquired Kovi, a Brazilian urban mobility provider.

The value of the deal is not being disclosed, but Moove confirmed it was an all-share transaction, and Kovi is now wholly owned by Moove.

Moove co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano told TechCrunch that the deal bumps the mobility fintech’s annual revenue to $275 million. Last March, Moove reported a $115 million ARR.

Read more: https://shorturl.at/E4gPJ 


Trump Media launches fintech brand Truth.Fi for crypto, ETFs

Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. launched a financial-services and fintech brand dubbed Truth.Fi, with a focus on crypto and customized exchange-traded funds.

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The new offering will develop separately managed accounts, ETFs and Bitcoin in partnership with Charles Schwab Corp., which will “broadly advise” on investments and strategy, Trump Media said in a statement Wednesday.

Trump Media said it will also invest as much as $250 million that will be kept in custody by Schwab. That amount is about a third of Trump Media’s cash pile, but represents a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars that are managed by traditional financial firms.

Read more: https://english.alarabiya.net/business/banking-and-finance/2025/01/29/trump-media-launches-fintech-brand-truth-fi-for-crypto-etfs 


London’s Payments Fintech Vyne to Wind Down UK Operations

Vyne, a London-based real-time account-to-account payments platform, has announced that it will be winding down its UK operations effective April 22.

This decision comes just months after Vyne was acquired by Tarabut, a Middle Eastern fintech company.

According to a statement released recently on Vyne’s official website, the decision to cease UK operations is part of a broader global strategy adopted by its new shareholders.

Read more: https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2025/01/235774-londons-payments-fintech-vyne-to-wind-down-uk-operations/ 


Fintech wallets go live in digital rupee CBDC pilot

Indian fintech app CRED is beta testing support for the digital rupee as part of India’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) trials, the Hindu Businessline reported. Another app, MobiKwik, said it is fully in production for Android users. Yes Bank is acting as sponsor bank for both fintechs to enable access to the CBDC.

Both wallets also support India’s UPI instant payment system, with CRED ranking as fifth largest app for UPI and MobiKwik as 17th. CRED has 13 million monthly active users and MobiKwik says its wallet has 167 million end users, but doesn’t mention how many of those are active.

Transaction limits for the CBDC are currently Rupee 10,000 ($115.50) and Rupee 50,000 ($578) per month.

Read more: https://www.ledgerinsights.com/fintech-wallets-go-live-in-digital-rupee-cbdc-pilot/ 


Cross-Border Market Share Will Depend on Instant Decisions

Cross-border payments had, for decades, been done by wire — where it had taken days to settle an international fund flow.

But now, in the digital age — unlike years past — there are many ways to deliver a payment from country A to country B. We’re headed more fully toward instant payments, always on, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, as the dozens of instant payment schemes taking shape around the world move toward interoperability.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Dawid Janas, head of global clearing and FI payments at Citi Services, noted that ISO 20022, the financial messaging standard that’s being implemented by financial institutions (FIs) around the globe, will go a long way toward fostering that interoperability, and give banks a way to cement loyalty with corporate clients. Citi’s own research has shown, in a report titled “Cross Border Payments 24×7: Faster, Simpler, Smarter,” that corporate and retail clients are considering moving their business away from traditional FIs (and possibly to FinTechs) in order to realize the benefits of faster, more transparent and cost-effective payments.

Read more: https://www.pymnts.com/news/payments-innovation/2025/cross-border-market-share-will-depend-on-instant-decisions/